#tag: green lanterns light

[shoot-i-messed-up]

Clark didn't like Hal??? what dis?

It’s this fic idea I had where I pretend as if there’s some actual friction between early JLA days Clark and Hal—and then explore how that friction might have come to be between those two very agreeable people and how they might come to resolve it. Basically, they get stuck in a place somewhere and have to air out their grievances & bond over having to control such limitless power and what that means for both of them.

It’s kinda been left to collect dust because I had a couple of good pages in my head and then…moved on to greener pastures, I guess. Shrug

But anyway!! Here’s a snippet:

“So,” said Hal, looking expectantly at Clark, “what gives?”

Clark frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Okay, it’s not like I really wanna sit down for a talk about feelings or whatever, but come on. It doesn’t take the world’s greatest detective to see clearly, there’s some sort of reason why you don’t like me.”

Clark looked up at Hal, surprised. “I don’t dislike you,” he said quickly. A little too quickly.

“Yeah right,” Hal said with a visible roll of his eyes behind his mask’s seamless white lenses. “You’re jumping for joy at the prospect of spending an indefinite amount of time with me in an enclosed space.”

“That’s unfair. Anyone would be worried about being imprisoned,” Clark said.

Hal raised an eyebrow. “Okay, so you admit that you don’t like me.”

The thing was, Clark didn’t like Hal.

But he didn’t…not like Hal.

Clark certainly didn’t have any reason to dislike him, not like Bruce, who regarded Hal as the reckless and needlessly flashy antithesis to Batman, or Diana, whose heartbeat tripped in grief everytime Hal said or did something a little too like Steve Trevor, or even J’onn, who carried a justified simmering resentment against the Guardians and, by extension, the Green Lantern Corps for what they did to his people.

For his own part, Hal was actually pretty polite, if distantly so, with Clark. He was, in fact, probably more polite to Clark than he was to any of the other members of the League. Of course, Hal was much closer to his friends, Barry and Oliver and Dinah, but weirdly enough, he deferred to Clark a lot of the time, whether that was following his orders in the field or hushed down at meetings when he was making snarky asides to his seatmates, where with others, he would argue, flirt, or joke.

It was…odd, that Hal singled Clark out like that. Clark grew up in rural Kansas, where Midwest Nice reigned the dominant conduct toward strangers and friends alike, so he shouldn’t have found it strange, but Hal was a Californian bred true and blue. It shone in how he teased and cussed and took up with the most amount of space possible—with everyone else, that was, except for Clark.

It could just be plain old simple respect. But Clark’s journalistic instinct told him it wasn’t—not when he knew that when they thought nobody would notice, Hal and Bruce would do little check-ins with each other after a mission. For the two most antagonistic and argumentative members of the Justice League, they seemed to understand each other on a level that wasn’t deeper than what Clark had with Bruce but was…somehow, different. But Clark knew Hal respected Bruce, and Bruce, begrudgingly, respected Hal; so whatever Hal had for or against Clark, it wasn’t respect. It was simply…distance.

So…yeah. Clark and Hal each held each other at a distance, and it was fine. And he didn’t even mean it in the way that Batman would grunt out after taking a heavy hit that was most definitely not fine, Clark really meant that it was just…fine.

It’s not as if it created any discord within the Justice League, this little disconnect between two out of the nine members. Hal was far from a social pariah, considering how much he got along with the other half of the League.

Clark was content to let sleeping dogs lie, but it seemed Hal wasn’t.

“I don’t dislike you,” Clark repeated, willing his voice to be firmer this time.

[avianii]

oh? what's this?? fanart for my other fandoms???? the infidelity!!!

anyways @calkale I'm also just now realizing this is 75% stuff you indoctrinated me into liking so congrats, it worked :)

[rp-guzi]

More Emerald Gleam Tribute!!

\ ( ◠ ∀ ◠ ) / ~ ♡

@lycorisketch has furnished this Emerald Gleam Lighting Dawn's shrine with a fine painting that he is excited to show you all!

Their original work is like this:

And it's me looking a lot more grown up! We used a little magic to make one that looks more like me right now:

This tribute makes me very happy!! (◠ ꇴ ◠) This good son doesn't have actual powers yet, but he will bless you the best that he can for your good service!!

((Their commissions are open! Check them out!!))

[maximalismdaybyday]

Source

[misswynters]

Ma Meilleure Amour

featuring. ekko x fem!reader

a/n. doing my duty as a writer to fill the ekko tag with fics of him only (it’s translated to my best love)

inspired by. the song Ma Meilleure Ennemie and the scene with ekko and jinx in act iii (listen to it while reading)

Everything felt different. The streets of Zaun had the ever-present haze of smog seem softer, its grim edge dulled by the warm hum of neon lights. The streets bustled with life, as they always did, but the night gave the chaos a certain charm. The glow of green and pink signs reflected off damp cobblestones, while the occasional flicker of a malfunctioning lamp sent ripples of color through shallow puddles.

You walked side by side with Ekko, your steps slow and aimless, as if the two of you had all the time in the world. You didn’t, of course. With how Zaun always had a way of reminding you that the clock never stopped ticking. But right now, under the swirl of lights and the faint hiss of steam vents, it felt like time had paused just for the two of you.

Ekko’s hand brushed against yours every so often, and though he wasn’t one to initiate touch easily, you could tell he didn’t mind the closeness. He always had this way of being effortlessly cool, his swagger and wit making it seem like nothing fazed him. But you knew him better than most. You saw the weight he carried, the pressure of being a leader, a fighter, and a kid all at once. And tonight, you were determined to remind him what it felt like to just…be.

“Ever think Zaun’s kinda pretty at night?” you mused, breaking the comfortable silence.

Ekko glanced at you, one eyebrow raised, before looking around. “Pretty? Dunno if I’d call it that. More like…gritty with a side of a green glow.”

You laughed, nudging him playfully. “You’re so dramatic.”

“Says the one waxing poetic about this place,” he shot back, his grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help smiling. “Fine, maybe I’m seeing it through rose-colored glasses. Or maybe I just like walking around with you.”

That earned a chuckle from him, the sound low and warm. He shoved his hands in his pockets, his shoulders relaxing as he leaned closer to you. “Well, when you put it that way…” The two of you wandered through winding alleys and across rickety bridges, the air thick with the scent of metal and oil. Every so often, Ekko would point out a shortcut he’d used for one of his time-bending escapades or share a story about an adventure with the Firelights.

But then he led you down a narrow path you hadn’t noticed before, his fingers brushing yours briefly to guide you. At the end of the path, you stepped into a beautiful hidden oasis. A rooftop garden tucked away from Zaun’s usual grit and grime. The first thing you noticed was the lights. Strings of mismatched lanterns crisscrossed the space, casting a soft, golden glow over everything. Tiny fairy lights were woven through the vines that climbed up makeshift trellises, their warm flicker like little stars in the night. The plants themselves were a mix of scrappy greenery and surprisingly vibrant flowers, their colors popping against the muted tones of the city below.

“Woah…” you breathed, turning to him with wide eyes.

He shrugged, trying to play it cool, but the faint blush on his cheeks gave him away. “It’s nothing fancy. Just a spot I’ve been working on.”

“Are you kidding? It’s perfect,” you said, your voice filled with awe.

He rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze darting away from yours. “Figured it’d be nice to have a place to get away, y’know? Somewhere quiet.”

You stepped forward, taking it all in. A small wooden bench sat in the center of the garden, its surface worn but sturdy. Around it, the plants swayed gently in the cool breeze, their leaves catching the light just enough to shimmer.

“Come on,” Ekko said, his hand lightly brushing the small of your back as he guided you to the bench. “I didn’t bring you here just to stand around.”

You sat down, the wood creaking softly under your weight. Ekko settled beside you, close enough that his knee pressed against yours. For a moment, neither of you spoke, the quiet hum of the lights and the distant sounds of Zaun filling the space. It was a working pattern. There was always a comfortable silence between the two of you.

“How long have you been working on this?” you asked softly.

“Couple months,” he said, leaning back with his arms stretched across the bench. “Takes a while to get plants to grow in a place like this. But I dunno…it feels good to build something, y’know? Instead of just tearing things down.”

You glanced at him, your chest tightening at the softness in his voice. Ekko didn’t let people see this side of him often though. I mean this was the boy who dreamed of a better Zaun, the one who carried the weight of his community on his shoulders.

“It’s beautiful,” you said, resting your head against his shoulder. “Just like you.”

He laughed softly, the sound warm and a little shy. “You’re laying it on thick tonight, huh?”

“Just telling the truth,” you said, closing your eyes as his warmth seeped into you.

The two of you sat like that for a while, wrapped up in the stillness of the garden. Ekko’s hand found yours, his fingers intertwining with yours in a way that felt natural, like you were always meant to fit together.

“Hey,” he said after a while, his voice quiet.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. For, y’know…being here.”

You lifted your head to look at him, your heart aching at the sincerity in his eyes. “Of course,” you said softly while winking. “You’re worth it, Ekko.”

His gaze lingered on yours for a moment, the golden light casting shadows across his face. Then he smiled. It was real, genuine smile that made your chest feel light and full all at once.

“C’mere,” he said, pulling you closer until you were practically in his lap. His arms wrapped around you, his chin resting on your shoulder as you leaned into him.

“This is nice,” you murmured, your fingers tracing absent patterns on his arm.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice a little muffled. “It is.”

There it was again, the comfortable silence. The garden was quiet, bathed in the golden light of the mismatched lanterns. You rested your head on Ekko’s shoulder, feeling the steady rhythm of his breath against you. His fingers were still intertwined with yours, his thumb brushing small, absentminded circles against your knuckles.

It was peaceful, almost too perfect for Zaun, where tranquility was a rare luxury. The hum of distant machinery and the faint chatter of the streets below were a backdrop to your own private world. You thought this was it, that the night couldn’t get any better. But Ekko had other plans.

Suddenly, he shifted away from you, his weight leaving the bench as he stood. His warmth leaving your body. You blinked up at him, confused as he turned to face you, his signature grin tugging at the corners of his lips. He extended a hand toward you, palm up, the glow of the garden lights reflecting in his dark eyes.

“Dance with me,” he said, his voice soft but brimming with an irresistible playfulness.

You tilted your head, a laugh escaping you. “Dance? Here?”

“Why not?” He wiggled his fingers, urging you to take his hand.

You hesitated, glancing around. “Ekko, there’s no music.”

He smirked, a glint of mischief in his eyes. “Oh, ye of little faith.”

Reaching into his pocket, Ekko pulled out a small, beaten up speaker, a relic salvaged from some forgotten corner of Zaun. He fiddled with it for a moment before a warm melody crackled to life, filling the air with a gentle rhythm.

You stared at him in disbelief, your lips parting in surprise. “You planned this?”

He shrugged, trying to play it cool but failing miserably as a proud smile broke through. “Maybe.”

Shaking your head with a soft laugh, you placed your hand in his, the warmth of his palm grounding you. “Alright, Clockstopper,” you teased. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Ekko pulled you to your feet, guiding you to the center of the garden. The music swelled around you, soft and sweet, a contrast to the chaos of Zaun. His other hand found its place on your waist, and he held you close, his movements easy and unhurried. At first, you tried to match his rhythm, your steps tentative as you followed his lead. But it wasn’t long before your foot accidentally landed on his.

“Oh, sorry!” you gasped, pulling back slightly.

Ekko winced dramatically, clutching his chest as if you’d mortally wounded him. “You’re killing me here,” he said, his voice laced with mock pain.

You rolled your eyes, a grin tugging at your lips. “Don’t be such a baby.”

“Baby?” He laughed, spinning you unexpectedly. You stumbled slightly but caught yourself, the sound of your shared laughter echoing in the garden.

The two of you continued like that, swaying and spinning under the lanterns. Every so often, you’d step on his foot again, and he’d exaggerate his reaction, making you laugh until your cheeks hurt. But then, as the song shifted to a slower melody, Ekko’s movements became gentler, more deliberate. He pulled you closer, your bodies impossibly near. You could feel the warmth of his breath against your skin, the faint scent of zauns atmosphere lingering on him. Your eyes met his, and for a moment, the world seemed to fade away. The golden light reflected in his eyes, making them shimmer like they held their own constellation. There was something unspoken in his gaze, something raw and real that made your heart stutter.

“Ekko…” you whispered, your voice barely audible over the music.

He didn’t say anything, just leaned in slowly, giving you enough time to pull away if you wanted to. But you didn’t. Instead, you closed the distance, your lips meeting his in a kiss that was soft and sweet, filled with everything words couldn’t express. Your hands found their way around his neck, pulling him closer as his arms wrapped around your waist. The world seemed to tilt, the glow of the lanterns and the soft hum of the music swirling around you in a haze of light and sound.

Time felt irrelevant—ironic, considering who you were with. All that mattered was the way he held you, the way his lips moved against yours with a tenderness that made your chest ache.

When he finally pulled back, his forehead rested against yours, his breath warm against your skin. He chuckled softly, the sound vibrating through you. “I love you,” he murmured, his voice steady and sure.

Your heart swelled at his words, a warmth spreading through you that had nothing to do with the lights around you. Smiling, you leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I love you too,” you said, the words as natural as breathing.

Ekko grinned, his hands tightening around your waist as he pressed a series of quick, playful kisses to your face—your cheeks, your nose, your forehead. Each kiss was accompanied by a soft giggle from you, his affection spilling over in a way that was so uniquely him.

“Ekko, stop,” you laughed, trying to pull away as he kissed the corner of your mouth.

“Never,” he said, his voice full of mock defiance as he caught your lips in another kiss.

The two of you stayed like that, wrapped up in each other, the rest of the world forgotten. The music played on, the lights flickered, and Zaun’s ever-present hum seemed softer, almost distant. As the night stretched on, you found yourselves back on the bench, your head resting on Ekko’s shoulder as he absentmindedly played with your fingers. The garden felt like a dream, a little slice of peace carved out of the chaos. And in that moment, with Ekko by your side and the glow of the lanterns above you, everything felt right. Almost perfect.

banners. @anitalenia

taglist. @diffusebread @xxblairslairxx @thesevi0lentdelights

[incorrect-green-lantern-quotes]

"Green Lantern's weakness is the color yellow hur dur dur"

The yellow weakness got tossed out in the 90s. It hasn't been relevant in the main canon of DC for almost three decades. It's an obsolete bit of trivia like how Wonder Woman used to lose her powers when she gets tied up by a man. The only modern comics where Green Lantern rings are affected by yellow are the ones that take place in alternate realities like DC vs. Vampires or All-Star Batman & Robin (y'know, the one where Bruce is a psychopath who calls Dick an ableist slur and makes him eat rats?)

Just because Duke Thomas has a mostly-yellow suit doesn't mean he'd be able to beat any Green Lantern. Hell, his photokinesis would be more help than the color of his suit.

(tho I'd be willing to bet real money that a significant percentage of batstans don't care enough about Duke to know that he has metahuman powers. it's kinda telling when most of their posts mainly feature the white members of the Batfamily)

Anyway, DC actually showed what happened when the Batfamily member who should be the most capable of taking down a Lantern actually fought one:

Signal got one surprise kick in and Hal promptly put him in air jail.

(And even if the yellow weakness was still a thing, it's not like the ring wouldn't work on the black parts of Signal's suit.)

Also even when the ring didn't work on yellow, Green Lanterns would regularly find ways to get around that weakness by doing shit like this:

But yeah, go off about how the Gotham ninjas could totally beat any Green Lantern with just a batarang painted yellow.

Bat stans refuse to engage with any of the other DC characters and stories but also refuse to leave those same characters out of their shit and it’s seriously the most frustrating part of the fandom on tumblr. If you don’t know even the basic facts about a character, don’t drag them into your bullshit bat worship posts. You look like complete idiots.

[lizzyiii]

His Lady Love (4)

pairing | aemond targaryen x vampire!mikaelson!reader

taglist | to be added to the taglist just add your username to this DOC ✨

word count | 4k words

summary | reader becomes lost in her thoughts. viserys dies, discussions with helaena, alicent, and aemond

tags | blood, violence, death, angst/no comfort (cuz no one knows she's a vampire), vampire powers, tensionnnnn, reader lowkey supports rhaenyra's claim, but she loves team green as if they're her family sooooo.

note | REMINDER: reader is just a teenage girl who wants her mommy, but is forced to be a blood-sucking vampire. also I haven't thought about the mikaelsons in a while and I just remembered how finn mikaelson was my favourite. #justiceforfinnmikaelson. he's so overhated for what?!!

likes, comments, reblogs are much appreciated ✨

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 - 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 - 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫

You were engulfed in confusion—terribly so. Confusion swirled within you like the smoky shadows of the Keep's halls. The unexpected kiss from Prince Aemond echoed in your mind, a fiery spark that ignited a torrent of thoughts as you navigated the labyrinthine passages of Maegor's hidden passageways heading towards Flee Bottom. Cloaked in shadow, you traversed the dimly lit tunnel—one you discovered long ago during the cold, shadowy days of your arrival in King's Landing. But as you slipped through the ancient stone corridors, your thoughts remained anchored to that fleeting moment when Aemond’s lips brushed against yours—intense yet tantalizingly soft.

The kiss was a sudden tempest, and the weight of it left you breathless. His strong, musky scent lingered in the air, a potent reminder of his presence, while his calloused fingers cradled your face with an unusual gentleness. You couldn’t help the unbidden smile that crept across your lips. drawing you further from the gravity of your circumstances. In those fleeting seconds, you felt like a simple girl, unburdened by the Mikaelson curse. You imagined yourself as the heroine of a fable, where a gallant prince would pursue his beloved, proclaiming his devotion before stealing a kiss—precisely as Aemond had done.

As you pressed on, a tavern's raucous laughter and the unmistakable aroma of ale and smoke guided your steps. It loomed ahead, a warm beacon against the chaotic backdrop of Flea Bottom. You pulled back your hood, exposure blossoming as you emerged into the dim light. Almost at once, a rather rotund man stumbled out, his unsteady gait hinting at the heaps of wine he’d consumed inside. Fat and flush, with a beard flecked with remnants of his last meal, he teetered on the brink of inebriation, blissfully unaware of the trap that awaited him. With a bleary gaze, he locked eyes with you, his drunken smirk betraying the more unsavory intentions that lurked beneath his merry facade.

Your heart raced—not with fear, but with mischief. Blood would be spilled tonight, but not yours. You softened your expression into a sweet smile, a mask of angelic innocence that belied your true intentions, as you approached.

His dull gaze sharpened upon your arrival, eyes widening as if you were a vision from the Seven’s very own realms. “You’re a pretty girl,” he slurred, the words tumbling from his lips like the last drops from an overturned flagon.

A soft laugh escaped you, a sound like wind chimes in a summer haze. “Am I?” you replied, your voice playful and melodious,.

The man nodded with fervor, his expression blissfully captivated. Beneath the dim lantern light, you could see the way his thoughts scrambled like rats, floundering beneath the weight of both drink and desire. With a teasing tilt of your head, you gestured toward a shadowy alleyway not far from the tavern's entrance. “Why don't you show me how pretty I am?” you beckoned, your tone flirtatious.

His swollen features broke into a foolish, drunken grin as he stumbled forward, entranced, unaware of the peril that followed too closely in your wake. Such was the way of men like him—lost beyond recovery in the coils of their own indulgences, ripe for the taking beneath the watchful eyes of gods indifferent to their fate.

As you entered the narrow alleyway, the shadows seemed to swell around you, encasing you in an ominous embrace. Before you could even turn around, the man's grimy hands, reeking of sour wine and desperation, were upon you, grasping and pawing at your garments.

A wave of revulsion threatened to rise within you, yet you steeled your resolve. Summoning your vampiric strength, with a swift motion, you shoved him hard against the damp stone wall, his body slumping in surprise.

He let out a raucous laugh, the sound echoing off the walls like a jester’s overplayed jest. You grimaced at the foulness of his breath, the acrid scent assailing your senses. “Oh, you’re a strong girl, are you?” he slurred, a foolish grin plastered across his round face.

“Indeed,” you replied, your voice laced with disinterest. Your gaze sharpened, intensity pooling in your crimson irises as you began to weave the threads of your compulsion. “Be silent and remain still.”

With each word, you could feel his will wavering, his body succumbing to your command as his laughter turned into a slack-jawed stupor. The stench of his unwashed skin assailed your nostrils, but it barely registered now as your fangs elongated, sharp and glistening in the hopeless half-light of the alley.

Leaning in close, you felt the rush of your animalistic urges surge through you as your fangs pierced the delicate flesh of his neck, finding the pulsing artery with ease. The man whimpered, his feeble sounds mingling with the night air, yet he made no effort to resist; he was a mere vessel now, a source of sustenance for your insatiable thirst. The bitter warmth of his blood coursed down your throat, igniting a mix of satisfaction and despair.

As you fed, your mind wandered unbidden to Aemond—the fleeting memory of the kiss you had shared igniting a spark of longing that warred with your harsh reality. In that moment, the illusion of being a normal maiden, one capable of love and tenderness, faded into the dark abyss of your existence. The truth clawed at you like a ravenous beast; you were a creature of the night, bound by a thirst that rendered your dreams of affection but a distant whisper.

A wave of sorrow crashed over you, its weight pressing heavy upon your heart. Tears pricked at your eyes, blurring your vision as despair settled deep within your soul. In a fit of anguish, you tore your fangs from his flesh, the act frenzied and primal, as you ripped through his throat. A sob escaped your lips, raw and aching, as you stepped back and allowed the lifeless form to crumple to the ground. Blood smeared across your jaw, a grotesque mark of your nature, but your thoughts strayed not to the corpse before you.

How cruelly fate had woven your path; Aemond, with his fierce spirit and brooding whispers, was a world beyond your grasp. Yet every stolen glance, every shared moment between you only served to deepen the agonizing contrast of your reality. You cast the dead man one last glance, his stillness a haunting reminder of your actions, before turning your back on the grim tableau. As you made your way back towards the Keep, you felt a solitary tear trace a path down your cheek—one more sign of your unfulfilled yearning, echoing in the vast silence of the night.

As you crossed the threshold into your chambers, the heavy atmosphere of despair clung tightly to your spirit. You searched for a damp cloth to cleanse yourself—tinged with the vivid crimson remnants of the blood you had once savored, now leaving a bitter taste in the pit of your stomach. Though the vampiric curse bestowed upon you allowed for days without rest, weariness prevailed, drawing you like a shadow toward your bed.

You felt the weight of your heart, heavy with sorrow and longing for the comfort of sleep—a refuge where you could escape the chains of your reality. Tomorrow, the court would buzz with intrigue and whispers, but you doubted you would leave your chambers. In those fleeting moments between wakefulness and dreams, perhaps you could imagine yourself as someone else—a maiden free of bloodlust, pure and deserving of Aemond's fierce devotion. In those dreams, you could be free. In those dreams, you would be whole.

As the lingering echoes of the previous night's woes finally faded, you stirred, your senses slowly awakening from a slumber that felt both unearthly and heavy with dreams. With a deep sigh, you pushed your head from the pillow, blinking against the fading light that spilled through the window. The sun had dipped lower on the horizon, casting shadows that danced across the stone walls of your chamber—a stark reminder that you had now squandered the day sleeping away.

With a reluctant grace, you rose from the silken sheets that embraced you, and wrung your hands through your tresses, managing to tame the wild locks that had battled against the weight of sleep. Yet, as you got dressed, a sense of urgency gnawed at you. You drew closer to the heavy oak door, intent on rejoining the world beyond its threshold. However, your fingers merely grazed the handle to reveal that it was stubbornly sealed.

Furrowing your brow in irritation, you exerted a bit more force, pulling at the handle, only to find it locked. A huff escaped your lips, and with a determined glare directed at the obstinate barrier, you pressed your hands against the frame, using your strength and pushed. The wood shuddered against your might, yielding at last, the door swinging open with a reluctant creak that echoed through the silence of the guest wing.

When you stepped into the hallway, an unsettling quiet enveloped you, the stillness stretching like an unseen net. You advanced cautiously, each footfall a reminder that something was amiss. Yet, you dismissed the haunting unease that prickled at your skin, shaking off the chill while you made your way forward, resolute in your purpose, as you sought Helaena’s chambers.

The atmosphere in Helaena’s solar was suffused with the same unsettling. The last rays of sunlight filtered weakly through the stained glass, casting muted colors that danced across the flagstones, but they did little to dispel the heaviness of the atmosphere. Helaena, draped in a gown of pale blue, sat by the window, her gaze lost in the distance, and her delicate embroidery forgotten on the chaise, threads of gold and silver glimmering like fleeting memories.

“Princess,” you ventured softly, stepping closer, your voice barely a whisper against the weight of the silence.

She turned slowly, her features—usually serene—now marred by a deep frown that spoke of profound grief. “Where were you?” Helaena’s voice, though devoid of accusation, dripped with a melancholy that made your heart ache.

“Confined in my chambers,” you replied, concern creasing your brow.

Her eyes drifted downcast, fingers twisting nervously together like the tangled threads of her abandoned work. “I am queen now,” she murmured.

Confusion washed over you, a furrow forming between your brows. “I don’t understand.”

“Father died last night,” she revealed, her voice hollow, as if she were reciting a grim tale rather than sharing a wound that plunged deep into the heart of House Targaryen. “Aegon’s coronation took place at midday.”

“Oh,” was all you managed, the weight of her words pressing down upon you like a winter frost.

You had never anticipated this so soon; the insatiable hunger for the Iron Throne had prompted a brutal and ruthless usurpation. The whispers of civil war—so distant and abstract until now—had materialized into a bitter reality. You settled beside her, the familiar warmth of your presence a fragile comfort amidst the tempest of her sorrow. Gently, you took one of Helaena’s hands in yours, your fingers intertwining. She squeezed your hand tightly, her grip a silent plea for strength, and you could feel the tremors of her despair ripple through the fragile connection that bound you together.

The sun had long dipped below the horizon, casting shadows across the Red Keep when you at last emerged from Helaena’s chambers. The weight of her weariness had pulled her into a restless slumber, leaving you with a restless heart. You meandered through the stone corridors, each echoing step leading you toward the chambers of the one whose counsel you desperately sought. Upon reaching the heavy oak door, you knocked gently, and a faint voice called from within, "Enter."

Pushing the door open, you stepped into the dimly lit chamber. The flickering flames of the hearth danced, casting a warm glow that played across the fine tapestries adorning the walls. Your eyes settled on the figure seated by the fire—The Queen, though perhaps now, the dowager Queen.

"Your Grace," you greeted, your voice laced with reverence.

Alicent turned, the light catching her features, her once bright eyes now shadowed with the weight of loss and duty. The depths of her large brown irises seemed to brighten with a flicker of comfort at your arrival, but the sorrow was unmistakable as she murmured your name. "I apologize for the constraints placed upon you. My father thought it best that all liege lords and ladies be confined to their chambers in light of recent events."

You nodded, empathy swelling in your chest as you took a seat beside her. "Helaena shared with me the tale of what transpired," you began cautiously, your gaze intent upon the queen's weary expression.

Alicent sighed, the sound heavy with grief. "The King," she spoke, pain sweeping over her like an ominous fog, “he spoke of Aegon, he named him as heir in his final moments.”

Your heart tightened at her words; skepticism gnawed at the edges of your mind. Could it truly be? "Yet, Your Grace," you ventured, a hint of disbelief coloring your tone, "the King had twenty-two years to declare Aegon as his rightful heir."

Alicent turned her gaze back to the fire, the flickering flames casting an ephemeral glow upon her face. The warmth that once radiated from her presence seemed dimmed, replaced with an aura of fragility. She drew a shaky breath. "Perhaps it is not a matter of time, but of choice," she murmured, her words weaving through the shadows of the room, "In that moment of despair, he grasped for certainty amidst the chaos.”

Certainty which embodied the drunken Aegon? A skeptical expression crossed your features, yet the desperation in the Queen’s gaze expressed to you that it was indeed the truth to her. Despite her conviction, you found yourself unable to fully surrender to her narrative. "Then why did Aegon’s coronation happen so quickly?" you challenged, the words falling from your lips like shards of ice.

For this, the Queen faltered. Her eyes slipped away, a slow shake of her head revealing the anguish that resided within. "If Rhaenyra were to ascend the throne, the lives of Aegon, Helaena, Aemond and Daeron would be forever in danger," she murmured, the words laced with the indoctrination of Otto Hightower.

You held a quiet disbelief in your heart. Rhaenyra, with her fierce spirit and benevolence, would not turn her blades against her half-siblings without provocation. Still, you understood the origins of Alicent’s dread. After all, Rhaenyra was married to Daemon, who was likely to see the children of Alicent as forever living threats to his wife's claim. Still, all thoughts of treachery were now ghosts in the face of Aegon's coronation.

“Will you accompany me to the Sept on the morrow?” Alicent's voice broke the silence, a quiet plea wrapped in a veil of vulnerability.

In that moment, you were swept away by a tidal wave of longing for your own mother. Before you embraced the demonic creature you had become, your mother had nurtured you with a love akin to that of a fallen star gracing the Earth. Now, you found solace in the fragile figure of Alicent Hightower, clinging to her presence as though she might fill the void left by your lost mother. With a gentle nod, you covered her slender hand with your own, "Of course, your grace."

The dawn’s light seeped hesitantly through the thick drapery of your chamber, casting a muted hue across the stone walls of the Red Keep. You stirred from restless dreams, where shadows danced ominously on the precipice of war. A chill licked the air, as if the very stones of Westeros mourned the blood that would soon be spilled. With a sense of foreboding, you rose before the sun had fully chased away the darkness.

Slowly, you donned a gown of soft lilac, the fabric whispering against your skin like the breeze that crept through the narrow window. You painstakingly braided your hair, arranging it delicately. Each movement was imbued with both purpose and trepidation, a ritual that anchored you amidst the chaos that brewed beyond the castle walls.

Before the winds of fate had cast you adrift in Westeros, you had known nothing of faith; the Norse gods of your childhood were mere tales spun by your parents, who were as skeptical of the divine as they were of the world outside their doors. In your past life, the gods felt distant, ethereal, and removed from the fervor of humanity. Yet here, in the heart of Westeros, how the world spun differently.

But within the regal presence of Queen Alicent, whose strength and grace reminded you of a lioness guarding her young, your skepticism began to erode. She embodied the devotion of the faith you had once dismissed; her prayers were filled with fervor as she sought to protect her kin and forge alliances among the houses of Westeros. In her company, you found solace in the faith of the Seven. To kneel before the Mother’s statue, adorned with offerings, was to partake in a ritual that tethered you to something greater, something almost palpable

You found solace in the quiet prayer sessions held in the Grand Sept, the flickering candles casting gentle silhouettes that danced like restless spirits against the stone. In the embrace of the faith, you discovered understanding of why mortals have always turned to religion: it was a way to combat the loneliness that often shrouded their hearts, a mechanism to find purpose and justification in their actions. Your fervent prayers often echoed the same request: a plea for safety—not only for the Targaryens, whose fates now intertwined with yours, but for the family you had left behind.

You prayed fervently for the Gods to soften Niklaus’ heart and lessen his wrath. You implored them to instill in Elijah the profound love he often failed to bestow upon himself. For Rebekah, you sought kindness; you yearned for her to see you not as competition, but her cherished sister. You called upon the heavens to grant Kol wisdom, challenging his rampant bloodlust that often clouded his judgment. And for your gentle Finn, trapped in the dark confines of a coffin wrought by Niklaus’s cruelty, you begged for respite—an end to his suffering and a chance to embrace his freedom at last. Your prayers extended toward your youngest brother, Hendrik, and for your beloved mother as well, who now resided among the stars in Heaven.

And even sometimes with a heavy heart, you whispered prayers for your father as well, pleading for mercy in the depths of his obsession, hoping that perhaps one day, he might find forgiveness before it consumed all the Mikaelsons.

Your thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock at your chamber door. Puzzled, you rose from your vanity, the delicate scent of jasmine lingering in the air around you. As you approached the door and opened it, your breath caught in your throat at the sight of Aemond standing there, his presence a commanding force. In that fleeting moment, your mind drifted back to the night years ago when a thirteen-year-old, tousled Aemond had appeared before you—so innocent, so unrefined. But now, the boy had transformed into a striking man, confidence radiating from him.

Time seemed to stretch as the two of you locked eyes, an unspoken weight hovering between you, memories of the kiss you shared two nights prior flooding your thoughts.

“May I come in?” he asked, shattering the spell that had enveloped you both. You nodded, albeit with a hint of hesitation, stepping aside to let him enter. His musky scent enveloped you, a wild and intoxicating aroma that stirred something deep within.

With a small pout lingering on your lips, you inquired, “What brings you here?”

“I came to see how you were faring,” he replied, standing awkwardly in the center of your dimly lit chamber, like the sun caught in the shadows.

You huffed softly, wrapping your arms around yourself, a protective gesture that belied your ancient nature. It was strange—centuries of existence coursing through your veins, a vampire of untold ages; yet here, in the presence of Aemond, you felt like a naïve girl enchanted by the shadows that danced between you.

You spoke with a raw honesty that felt both freeing and heavy, “I’ll confess,” you replied, your voice tinged with frustration, “I’m both surprised and vexed to find myself confined to this chamber all day, only to emerge and learn that the King is dead and Aegon has claimed the throne.” A sigh escaped your lips as you cast your gaze to the side, memories of your family washing over you like a forgotten tide. “I was always the last to know in my family as well."

Aemond stepped closer, a teasing smirk finding his lips, clearly amused by your candidness laced with sass. “I must take my leave shortly to secure Borros Baratheon’s allegiance,” he stated, his voice filled with formality, yet laced with something unspoken.

Your eyes locked onto his striking violet one, and you arched an eyebrow, “So?”

“In exchange for his support, the council has arranged my marriage to one of his daughters,” he murmured, letting the words hang between you like a dark omen, scrutinizing your reaction with utmost care.

"Oh," in that moment, it felt as if your heart had splintered into countless shards. You forced a nod, turning away to shield the tempest of emotions brewing within you, striving for a façade of indifference, “Such is your duty, then.”

“It is,” he admitted, positioning himself directly in front of you, a palpable intensity radiating from his presence. Yet, you continued to avoid his gaze, perhaps in a desperate bid to escape this reality. And as you remained steadfast in your gaze away from him, he added softly, “But when I arrive there, it is Daeron’s hand I intend to offer instead.”

Your heart raced at his declaration, the pulse quickening against the cage of your ribs, yet you still refused to meet look at him, “Why?” you whispered, the question barely escaping your lips.

Aemond softened his stance, his fingers brushing against your cheek as he guided your face to meet his gaze. “Look at me, sweet girl,” he implored, his voice now a low, fervent whisper, compelling you to meet the intensity of his unwavering stare. “Because the only woman in this realm that I wish to call my own is you.”

Pain flashed in your heart, a flood of emotions crashing over you as you furrowed your brows, your voice trembling with uncertainty. “Aemond…”

He leaned closer, placing a gentle kiss upon your forehead, a benediction of sorts. “We will discuss this further upon my return,” he murmured, his breath warming your skin.

With that, he turned away, departing into the shadows that awaited him beyond the door. Alone, you pressed your palms to your mouth, constricting a gut-wrenching sob that echoed in the hollow silence of your chamber, a lament for the hope that quickly flickered out like a dying candle.

next up, Aemond coming back from Storms End

@barnes70stark @izabell26 @urdeftonesgrrrl @helo1281917 @strangefunthornqueen @hueanhdang @elenapri0502 @goest-and-fuckest-thyself-blog @caged-birdies-blog @lenavonswartzschild @writtenbyhollywood @gl4ssw1ngp1xy @goddesslilithmoriarty @filmflux @esposadomd @littybeech

[incorrect-green-lantern-quotes]

Hey! Just wanna say im really glad i found this account ive been getting into green lantern comics recently and your page is a godsend.Aside from that its one of the few that isnt overrun with batman/batfam content propinng him or his orphan child soliders by putting down other dc characters..so i was curious if you knew any dc fanfics that portray the lanterns as competent and or calling bruce out on his bullshit ( sorry if my text is a bit jumbled english isnt my first language)

I'm glad you like my content!

Tbh the fanfiction situation for Green Lanterns is just as bad as it is on Tumblr, if not worse. So a few of these fics are going to be bat-centric, but I've specifically selected those that I feel actually respect and understand the GLs instead of flanderizing them to be stupid assholes.

I've tagged the authors whose Tumblr usernames I could find in the fic or their AO3 profiles. If you're one of the authors I haven't tagged, just let me know and I'll edit the post to add you.

But without further ado, the GL contents of my bookmarks in no particular order:

Fics where the Bats are uninvolved or only play a minor role

In the end, we all bleed Green. by @catboyollie (series) - a collection of GL shortfics

Kink Meme #5 by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic) - Most people forget Guy Gardner was a teacher...

Friendship, Ice Cream, and Green Lanterns by MildlyRebelliousMint - GLs hanging out after a battle

Family is What You Make Of It by @exasperatedfey - in which Hal has to bail his fellow GLs out of jail

In Case of Emergency by @susanphoenix - Kilowog’s been adopted by the Earth heroes as the GL to go to if they can’t find the earth lanterns. No one told him that.

i ate up all the light by @effietrinket1619 - Six times Hal was there for a fellow GL (and one time they're there for him). TW for roofie

Good Cop/Bad Cop by @meduseld - shortfic of Hal being a scary mf

Adrift by @rose-cake - Simon and Jessica are partners. That word has multiple meanings. Minor Simon/Jessica

These Mountains by pastelplastic - Superman meets Tomar-Re, the Green Lantern who failed to save Krypton

Justice League's most wanted fugitive: Hal Jordan by Panamic - The Justice League are trying to find Green Lantern. Hal does not want to be found by the JL. Shenanigans ensue

No Rest for a Superhero by Crimson_Crystal - Kyle sacrifices sleep to finish an art commission and crashes

A Mind Of His Own by @wolfsbanesparks - The Justice League finds out Captain Marvel is actually a kid, and Hal is the only one who still treats him like a fellow hero

The Goddess of Petty Annoyances by @galahadwilder - Jessica invades Apokolips specifically to annoy Darkseid. Crack

Shooting for the Stars by @green-lanterns-c0ck - Guy in his yellow ring era bumbles into saving a galaxy far far away. Crack crossover with Star Wars

canary in a coal mine by BrandyFromTheBottle - Guy is an asshole to Dinah, but he's trying to be better about it

Hal & Kyle fics (there's enough of these that they warrant their own category)

Luminance by @lanternwisp - Hal slowly realizing he thinks of Kyle as a son

trajectory from me to you by @softpunks - deaged!Kyle thinks Hal is his dad

the moldy cup is not a metaphor by MildlyRebelliousMint - Kyle calls Hal "dad" and Hal goes to visit Barry, totally not freaking out

friendly fields and open roads by @ufonaut - Hal returned to life and feels like shit. Kyle comes seeking a mentor.

ship in a bottle by @hopeworth - Two former hosts of Parallax meet up for brunch

Fics involving Bats that respect Green Lanterns

we're in the mellow mayhem together (series) by lunaratlasky - Jason seeks out Hal whenever he wants to piss off Bruce

Emergency Line (series) by @crucifixinhell - jason looked at hal once and went "you seem like good dad material"

For Whom We'd Give Blood (series) by Boogalee99 - How Hal Jordan becomes the favorite uncle of the batfam

There's Always Another One by lapsedpacifist - Dick gets fired and decides to crash at Hal's place

To Overcome Fear (ongoing) by @dc-sideblog - Stephanie gets fired and Kyle decides that if the Bats don't want a perfectly good superhero, the Green Lanterns definitely do

Disclosure by @aj-artjunkyard - Maybe Hal isn't as at peace with a certain android's death as he thought he was... and maybe he's not alone in his grief either.

Stars in a Paint-Filled Sky by @thenaphorism - Kyle has to explain to the Justice League why he has a Red Hood/Troia tramp stamp

because you know better by @matchahater - Ion and Red Hood contemplate the ethics of resurrection

catch the asteroids that come your way by @thepackwantsthed - the only JayKyle fic that I've ever liked

Justice League International - Spoiled! by @secretlystephaniebrown - Guy Gardner, Crystal Brown's childhood neighbor and best friend, ends up taking in her daughter Stephanie after an unexpected turn of events.

the superhero game (ongoing) by Nyame - Jason Todd Peggy Sue longfic ft. a near-omnipotent White Lantern

I'm gonna pin this post and update it as I encounter more fics I like, so drop some recommendations in the comments for me and everyone else!

[novaursa]

Legacy (the long night)

- Summary: Tywin was the man who saved you from Robert's wrath. He was also the man who doomed you.

- Pairing: targ!reader/Tywin Lannister

- Rating: Mature 16+

- Previous part: winds of winter

- Next part: terrors

- Tag(s): @sachaa-ff @oxymakestheworldgoround @luniaxifics @alkadri-layal @butterflygxril

The world had fallen into a relentless shadow. For three years, the sun had not risen, its absence plunging the realm into a perpetual twilight. The snow never stopped, blanketing the land in an unyielding cold that seeped into bones and stone alike. Winter, as prophesied, had come with a vengeance. Crops failed in the frozen fields, rivers turned to ice, and the seas were treacherous with thick sheets of frost. The strongholds that endured did so by sheer will and meticulous preparation. Those who had ignored the warnings perished within the first year, their homes abandoned to the cold.

The economy of Westeros had crumbled, barter replacing coin in many regions. Gold was useless when bread was worth more than a kingdom. Merchants risked their lives traveling frost-covered roads, their wagons carrying what little food could be spared. Peasants flocked to castles, seeking refuge behind high walls, only to find those walls offered little warmth without fires to fill their hearths. The smallfolk suffered the worst, entire villages swallowed by snowdrifts, their inhabitants becoming frozen specters of a dying world.

In Casterly Rock, the Lannister stronghold, survival had become a calculated endeavor. The castle stood defiant against the winter, its towering walls warmed by the fires deep within its belly. This warmth came not from wood or coal, but from the two dragons that had taken residence beneath the Rock. Viserion, regal and massive, and the once-juvenile black and red dragon, now much larger, their combined heat radiating upward to make the castle livable. Tywin Lannister, ever the strategist, had ensured his people were prepared. Food stores were rationed with precision, and the Rock’s vast wealth had been converted into resources long before the first snows fell.

But even here, the cold was felt. The people whispered of old sicknesses returning, ancient plagues born from the ice. Every cough or fever brought fear, for healers were few, and even fewer had remedies that worked. Hope was a rare commodity, and those who had it clung to it desperately.

In the eerie stillness of the castle mines, Damon, now almost seven, wandered through the labyrinthine tunnels. His silver-gold hair was tousled, his violet eyes flecked with green wide with curiosity as he clutched a small lantern. His breath misted in the air, but the deeper he went, the warmer it became. The faint, rhythmic rumble of the dragons’ breathing resonated through the stone walls, a sound both comforting and thrilling.

“Damon!” the voice of Ser Barristan Selmy echoed faintly from somewhere far above. “Come back this instant!”

Damon grinned to himself, his young heart racing with the excitement of disobedience. He had slipped away while Ser Barristan was distracted, eager to explore the forbidden depths of the Rock. The mines, abandoned long before his birth, held an allure he couldn’t resist. Here, the world felt alive in a way it didn’t above, where the cold muted everything.

He followed the warmth, the air growing heavier with each step. The faint glow of his lantern illuminated the smooth, claw-marked walls, remnants of Viserion’s movements over the years. Damon knew he was nearing their lair.

Finally, he entered a cavernous chamber. Viserion lay curled in the center, her scales gleaming faintly even in the low light. She shifted slightly, her massive head lifting as her molten eyes flicked toward Damon. For a moment, he froze, his breath catching in his throat.

“Hello, Viserion,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. The dragon huffed softly, a plume of warm air escaping her nostrils. She did not rise but watched him with a mixture of curiosity and indifference, as though deeming his presence harmless.

But it wasn’t Viserion who captured Damon’s attention.

To the side of the chamber, where shadows clung to the edges, another figure moved. The black dragon with blood-red undertones had grown significantly over the years. Once the size of a horse, it now rivaled Viserion’s earlier size, its sinewy body coiled with latent power. Its eyes, a piercing red, glowed like embers in the dark.

The young dragon stepped forward, its claws clicking against the stone floor. Damon took a cautious step closer, his lantern trembling slightly in his hand. The black dragon sniffed the air, its head lowering to examine him more closely. A low growl rumbled from its throat, not a threat, but a warning.

“Easy,” Damon murmured, his voice steady despite the pounding of his heart. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The dragon tilted its head, the glow of its eyes flickering as it studied him. Damon reached out slowly, his small hand trembling as he extended it toward the beast. The dragon’s nostrils flared, and for a moment, Damon thought it might snap at him.

Instead, it leaned forward, its hot breath brushing against his fingers.

Damon smiled, his awe replacing his fear. “You’re not so scary,” he said softly.

Behind him, Viserion let out a low rumble, her gaze never leaving the interaction. The black dragon pulled back suddenly, its wings unfurling slightly as it let out a piercing screech that echoed through the chamber. Damon stepped back, his lantern shaking as he realized he might have pushed his luck.

Above, faintly, he could hear the panicked shouts of guards and servants. The black dragon turned abruptly, retreating into the deeper shadows of the lair, leaving Damon standing in the warmth of the cavern with Viserion’s watchful eyes on him.

“Damon!” Ser Barristan’s voice was closer now, filled with worry and anger.

Damon sighed, knowing his adventure was over for now. But as he turned to leave, a spark of excitement lit his eyes. He had seen the black dragon up close, and it hadn’t harmed him. That was a story worth telling—if only someone would believe him.

Tywin sat at the head of heavy oak table, his presence commanding as ever, his eyes scanning the gathered lords and advisors. The air was heavy with the weight of their discussion, as it had been for moons now. The endless winter had made every decision critical, every misstep potentially fatal.

“Provisions are holding steady, my lord,” one of the bannermen reported, though his voice carried an edge of unease. “But the nearby settlements are struggling. The latest reports indicate several have run out of stored grain. We’ve begun receiving refugees at the gates.”

“Refugees that we cannot feed,” Tywin said sternly, his voice cutting through the room like a blade. “They are not our responsibility. If they come to the Rock, they will starve. We must protect our stores for those already under our protection.”

The bannerman nodded reluctantly. “Understood, my lord.”

Kevan, Tywin’s ever-loyal brother, leaned forward. “There’s another matter. The settlement near the eastern ridge—their maester has sent word of shivers spreading through their people. The disease is claiming more lives with each passing day.”

A heavy silence fell over the room. Shivers, a sickness that had not been seen in generations, had returned with the cold, its symptoms cruel and fatal.

Tywin’s expression remained unreadable, but his tone was unrelenting. “Quarantine the settlement. Allow no one in or out. Supplies will be sent to their perimeter, nothing more. If it spreads to the Rock, it will cripple us.”

The lords murmured their agreement, though some exchanged uneasy glances. The decisions required to survive this winter were growing harsher by the day.

You sat beside Tywin, your hands folded in your lap as you listened intently. Though your presence became more symbolic than authoritative, Tywin often sought your counsel privately. Now, you spoke up, your voice calm but firm.

“If the disease spreads further, it could reach the gates regardless of our precautions. We must ensure the settlements understand the severity of this quarantine. Panic will only worsen the situation.”

Tywin nodded faintly, acknowledging your point. “Send a raven to the maester there. They will comply, or they will perish.”

Before the discussion could continue, the doors to the chamber opened abruptly, and Ser Barristan Selmy entered, his cloak flowing behind him. In his grasp was Damon, his small face flushed with guilt, though his eyes remained defiant.

The lords turned to look, some with mild amusement, others with disapproval, at the boy’s untimely entrance.

“Forgive the interruption, my lord,” Ser Barristan said, his tone measured but strained. “Your son decided to explore the abandoned mines beneath the Rock. He was found near the dragons’ lair.”

Tywin’s gaze turned to Damon, his expression icy. “You went where you were explicitly forbidden?” he asked, his voice cold and cutting.

Damon shrank under his father’s stare but didn’t look away. “I just wanted to see them,” he mumbled. “I wanted to see the black one.”

At this, a murmur spread through the room. The black dragon, now significantly larger, had been a source of both awe and anxiety among the household. That Damon had ventured so close was both reckless and dangerous.

Tywin’s jaw tightened, his displeasure palpable. “You will go to your chambers and remain there until I decide what is to be done with you.”

Damon looked as though he might protest, but before he could speak, you placed a hand on Tywin’s arm and leaned in to whisper. “Let me handle this.”

Tywin’s gaze flicked to you, his expression softening just slightly. After a moment, he nodded curtly. “Very well.”

You stood and walked to Damon, your tone calm but firm. “Come with me, Damon. We’ll discuss this elsewhere.”

Damon hesitated, glancing at his father, but the stern set of Tywin’s jaw left no room for argument. The boy followed you out of the chamber, his small steps echoing in the stone corridor.

As the doors closed behind you, Tywin turned back to his council, his tone as sharp as ever. “Where were we?”

The lords hesitated briefly, then resumed their grim discussion, the tension in the room a reminder of the perilous state of the realm.

The corridors of Casterly Rock were quiet, the muffled sounds of wind outside a constant reminder of the harsh winter that gripped the land. Damon trudged ahead of you, his head hung low as he clutched the edge of his tunic nervously. Ser Barristan Selmy followed a few steps behind, his expression neutral but his eyes watchful.

As you entered Damon’s chambers, the warmth of the fire crackling in the hearth greeted you, along with the sound of Maelor’s delighted giggles. Your younger son, now almost five, was sitting on the floor, surrounded by a small assortment of wooden toys—a lion, a dragon, and a knight among them. A pair of attentive servants hovered nearby, ensuring he stayed out of trouble.

Maelor looked up at the sound of the door opening, his silver-gold curls bouncing as he grinned. “Mama!” he chirped, holding up a wooden dragon proudly. “I made him fly!”

You gave him a soft smile, though your focus quickly shifted back to Damon, who lingered by the door, clearly trying to avoid your gaze. “Thank you,” you said to the servants. “You may leave us.”

They bowed quickly and exited the room, casting curious glances at Damon as they passed. Ser Barristan stepped aside, his presence reassuring but unobtrusive.

“Damon,” you said firmly, your voice carrying the weight of your authority as his mother. “Come here.”

He shuffled forward reluctantly, his hands clasped in front of him. “I’m sorry, Mama,” he mumbled, not meeting your eyes.

“Sorry isn’t enough,” you replied, your tone sharp but controlled. “Do you understand what you’ve done? You put yourself in danger—again.”

Damon’s head shot up, his eyes wide. “I wasn’t in danger! Viserion wouldn’t hurt me, and the black one didn’t either!”

“That is not the point,” you countered, stepping closer. “You disobeyed. Those mines are not a place for you to wander, especially not alone. Do you have any idea what could have happened if the black dragon decided you were a threat?”

“But I wasn’t scared,” Damon argued, his voice rising slightly. “They’re dragons, Mama. They know I’m not going to hurt them.”

You knelt in front of him, your hands resting on his small shoulders, your expression softening just a fraction. “Damon,” you said gently, “bravery is not the same as recklessness. Just because they didn’t hurt you this time doesn’t mean they won’t if you startle them or get too close. Dragons are not like us—they are fire and instinct, and they do not think the way we do.”

He looked down again, his lip trembling slightly. “I just wanted to see the black one,” he murmured. “I wanted to talk to it.”

You sighed, your heart tugging at his innocence even as you felt the frustration of his disobedience. “You have to promise me, Damon,” you said, lifting his chin so he met your eyes. “Promise me you won’t go down there again unless your father or I say it’s safe. Do you understand?”

He hesitated, then nodded slowly. “I promise.”

“Good,” you said firmly, though you allowed your tone to soften. “Because if you break that promise, there will be consequences.”

From the corner of the room, Maelor piped up, his voice bright and curious. “Did Damon get in trouble?”

You turned to your younger son, who was now holding his wooden dragon upside down, his innocent expression making you smile despite your exasperation. “Yes, Maelor,” you said lightly. “Your brother decided to play where he wasn’t supposed to.”

Maelor gasped dramatically, his wide eyes darting to Damon. “Did the dragons eat you?”

Damon finally cracked a small smile, shaking his head. “No, they didn’t eat me.”

“Well, don’t let them,” Maelor said seriously, as though he were imparting great wisdom.

Ser Barristan, who had remained silent until now, cleared his throat. “My lady, Lord Damon has a strong spirit. But strong spirits need guidance. He’s lucky to have yours.”

You stood, brushing a hand through Damon’s silver-gold hair. “Thank you, Ser Barristan. I’ll make sure he remembers that.”

The knight inclined his head. “I’ll be just outside if you need me.”

As Ser Barristan exited, you turned back to Damon. “Now, stay here and play with your brother,” you said, pointing toward the toys Maelor was holding out. “No more adventures today.”

Damon nodded quietly and went to sit beside Maelor, who immediately started explaining the intricate story he’d created with the toys. You lingered for a moment, watching them with a mix of relief and affection. No matter the challenges, they were your sons, and you would do everything in your power to keep them safe—even from their own boldness.

The door had barely closed behind you, Ser Barristan, and Damon when Tywin spoke, reclaiming the attention of the room.

“King’s Landing,” Tywin began, his voice firm and measured. “What is the latest report?”

One of the bannermen, Lord Brax, cleared his throat. “My lord, reports indicate the capital is… strained. The commonfolk grow restless as supplies dwindle. They mutter of betrayal, of unworthy rulers, but they fear the crown too much to rise.”

Kevan interjected, his tone grim. “Cersei has always ruled through fear, not respect through her children. The city may be quiet for now, but unrest festers beneath the surface. Jaime's letters suggest he has struggled to keep her in check.”

Tywin’s jaw tightened, though his expression remained unreadable. “Jaime’s role is to enforce the king’s peace and ensure Tommen remains unchallenged. If Cersei becomes too bold, he knows what must be done.”

Kevan hesitated, his brow furrowing. “And if he does not?”

Tywin’s cold gaze flicked to his brother. “Then I will remind him of his duty.”

Maester Aldren shifted uncomfortably before speaking. “The city may endure for now, but the longer this winter lasts, the harder it will become to maintain order. The crown’s debt to the Iron Bank also remains unresolved.”

Tywin’s lip curled faintly. “The Iron Bank will wait. They have little choice.” He leaned forward, his tone cutting. “The capital will not fall to chaos, not while my grandson sits on the throne. Focus on ensuring our supply lines to King’s Landing remain secure. If Jaime sends word of further unrest, reinforcements will be dispatched.”

“What of the North?” Tywin asked, shifting his attention to a map spread across the table. His finger tapped lightly on Winterfell, now marked with the sigil of the direwolf. “Jon Snow has returned to Winterfell with his siblings. He may no longer hold the title of King in the North, but his influence grows.”

Lord Brax hesitated before responding. “The Stark children have consolidated their power, my lord. Jon Snow, though no longer holding any titles, remains a prominent figure there. Sansa Stark manages Winterfell, alongside her siblings Arya and Bran.”

Kevan added, “There has been no new formal declaration of kingship in the North as agreed upon. The Starks seem more concerned with their own survival and the long winter.”

A flicker of irritation crossed Tywin’s face. “The absence of a king does not diminish their influence. The Stark name carries weight in the North, and their control over Winterfell makes them a rallying point. They may not declare themselves now, but should the snows ease, they will remember old grudges despite our agreement.”

Maester Aldren nodded. “The North’s allegiance to House Lannister remains tenuous at best, my lord. If they choose to rise—”

“They will not rise,” Tywin interrupted, his tone final. “Not while winter holds them in its grip. But we will watch them closely. A weakened North is easier to manage.”

The mention of Dragonstone brought a shift in the room’s atmosphere. The lords exchanged uneasy glances, and Maester Aldren unrolled a new scroll.

“Daenerys Targaryen remains isolated on Dragonstone, my lord,” the maester began. “For three years, her forces have remained stagnant. Her ships are frozen in the surrounding waters, and there has been no attempt to move south or engage with the realm.”

Kevan frowned. “What keeps her there? She has dragons, does she not?”

“Two,” Aldren confirmed, “though they have not been seen beyond Dragonstone’s shores. Reports suggest they are restless but remain grounded, likely due to the harsh conditions.”

Tywin’s eyes narrowed. “She waits for an opportunity that will not come. The longer she sits idle, the weaker her position becomes. Isolation breeds irrelevance.”

Lord Brax spoke hesitantly. “And if she grows desperate, my lord? If she decides to unleash her dragons?”

“She would not survive the attempt,” Tywin said coldly. “This winter has hardened the realm. A foreign invader with barbarian armies would find no welcome, especially one who has sat idle while the rest of Westeros suffers.”

“And what of Dorne?” one of the lords asked. “Their silence is... unnerving.”

The mention of Dorne brought a new layer of tension to the discussion. Kevan spoke next, his tone cautious. “The Martells remain ineed quiet, though they send the occasional envoy to King’s Landing to reaffirm their loyalty.”

Tywin’s gaze sharpened. “And yet, their loyalty is worth little. The Dornish never forget, and their hatred festers beneath their hollow gestures. Have we heard from Myrcella?”

Kevan hesitated before answering. “There has been no word, my lord. Her fate remains unknown.”

Tywin’s expression darkened, but he said nothing for a moment, his mind clearly working through the implications. Finally, he spoke. “The Martells are opportunists. They wait for a moment of weakness, but we will not give them one. Continue to monitor their movements. If they so much as look toward the capital, I will ensure Dorne burns.”

The room fell silent for a moment, the weight of their discussions settling over the assembled lords. The flickering firelight played across their faces, highlighting the unease that lingered beneath their stoic expressions.

Tywin’s voice broke the silence, cold and measured. “The crown remains fragile, the realm fractured. Every decision we make must strengthen our position. No alliances can be trusted, no threats underestimated. We rule, or we fall. There is no middle ground.”

The men nodded, some more reluctantly than others, as Tywin leaned back in his chair, his gaze keen and calculating.

“And what of the juvenile dragon beneath the Rock?” Kevan asked cautiously. “It grows bolder. Some of the men fear it.”

Tywin’s expression darkened, but his voice remained calm. “The dragon remains under control. It is not a matter for this council.”

Kevan nodded, though the unease in his eyes was clear.

“Dismissed,” Tywin commanded, rising from his seat. The lords filed out one by one, leaving Tywin alone with Kevan.

As the door closed, Tywin turned to his brother. “Keep me informed of any movement from King’s Landing. Jaime must remain vigilant.”

Kevan nodded. “And Daenerys?”

Tywin’s gaze was icy. “If she makes her move, she will find us ready.”

With that, Tywin strode from the room, his mind already turning to the next step in his meticulous plans.

The fire crackled softly in the hearth of the private chambers you shared with Tywin at Casterly Rock, casting shadows across the richly appointed room. The heavy drapes were drawn against the unyielding winter winds, but the warmth of the flames and the insulated walls kept the cold at bay. You sat across from Tywin at a small table near the hearth, the remnants of your evening meal pushed aside as his piercing green eyes remained fixed on the flames.

Tywin’s jaw was set, his expression unreadable save for the faint tension around his mouth. The day's events—Damon’s reckless venture into the mines—still lingered between you, the weight of his displeasure palpable in the air. You could see it in the way his fingers drummed against the armrest of his chair, in the slight narrowing of his eyes when he glanced your way.

“He is just a boy, Tywin,” you said softly, breaking the silence. “And he has Targaryen blood in his veins. Dragons call to him as they did my ancestors.”

Tywin’s gaze snapped to you, his voice cold and clipped. “Blood is no excuse for foolishness.”

You sighed, leaning back in your chair, your hands folded in your lap. “Foolishness, perhaps, but curiosity is not a crime. He wanted to see the black dragon, and you know how rare it is to witness something like this. He is drawn to them because they are a part of who he is.”

“Curiosity gets men killed,” Tywin retorted, his tone biting. “And I do not have the luxury of risking my heirs on childish whims. Damon must learn discipline, or he will suffer for his lack of it.”

You tilted your head slightly, watching him carefully. There was more to this than Damon’s actions, you realized. Tywin’s anger ran deeper, tangled in something older, something unresolved. “This isn’t just about Damon, is it?” you asked quietly.

Tywin’s eyes narrowed, his fingers pausing in their rhythm against the chair. “I will not indulge your attempts to soften this,” he said curtly. “Damon endangered himself, and that is the end of it.”

But you didn’t back down. “It’s about more than that,” you pressed. “You’re thinking about how we got here. About what could have been.”

Tywin’s gaze hardened, but he said nothing for a long moment. Then, finally, he spoke, his voice low and edged with old grievances. “If Aerys had not been a fool, this realm would look very different. If he had agreed to our marriage, as I proposed—if he had not been blinded by his own arrogance—the rebellion may turn out diffrently.”

You straightened slightly, caught off guard by the admission. Tywin rarely spoke of Aerys unless it was to condemn him outright. The bitterness in his tone now was different—intense, more personal.

“He wasted everything,” Tywin continued, his gaze fixed on the fire. “Even in death, Aerys found a way to waste my time. More than thirteen years spent rebuilding what his madness destroyed. Thirteen years lost, chasing after order while chaos consumed the realm.”

You studied him closely, the set of his jaw, the faint lines etched into his face. This wasn’t just about Aerys. It wasn’t even just about Damon. It was about the life Tywin had been denied, the choices stolen from him by a king too blind to see his worth.

“You’re angry because he kept us apart,” you said softly, the realization settling over you. “Because if things had been different, we could have had this—” you gestured to the room around you, the warmth, the family you’d built together—“years ago.”

Tywin’s lips pressed into a thin line, his silence speaking volumes. For all his calculated strength, his relentless control, there was something raw beneath the surface, something that still rankled after all this time.

You reached out, placing a hand on his arm. “We cannot change what happened. My father is dead, and the choices he made died with him. But we are here now, Tywin. Damon is here. Maelor is here. We’ve built something despite everything he tried to destroy.”

Tywin glanced at your hand, then at you, his gaze softening just slightly. “And yet, it could have been more,” he said quietly. “We could have been better prepared for what is coming.”

You leaned closer, your voice gentle but firm. “We are prepared. Because of you, we have a chance. This family, this stronghold, everything we’ve built—it’s because of your strength, Tywin.”

He exhaled slowly, his gaze returning to the fire. “Strength means nothing if it cannot be passed down. Damon must learn this. I will not allow him to squander what he is meant to inherit.”

“And he will learn,” you assured him. “But he is still a boy. Give him time.”

Tywin was silent for a moment, then nodded faintly, though his expression remained guarded. “See that he does not test my patience again.”

You smiled faintly, knowing that this was as close to a concession as Tywin would ever give. As you sat back, watching the firelight play across his features, you couldn’t help but marvel at the man before you—unyielding, brilliant, and haunted by what might have been.

For a moment, you allowed yourself to hope that the warmth of your family, the strength of what you’d built together, might one day be enough to ease the weight of his old grievances.

The cold winds of winter swept across the narrow road leading to Casterly Rock, carrying with it the faint whisper of unease. The guards stationed at the main gate stood huddled near a brazier, their cloaks pulled tight against the biting chill. They were accustomed to the darkness, the long stretches of night that swallowed the land, but tonight felt different. There was something sinister in the air, a feeling that something—or someone—was approaching.

“Do you see that?” one of the guards murmured, peering into the gloom. His companion, a burly man with a thick beard, squinted into the distance. A single figure cloaked in red emerged from the shadows, the faint glint of her garments catching the light of their torches as she drew closer on horseback.

“Who rides at this hour?” the bearded guard muttered, gripping the hilt of his sword.

The rider approached at a measured pace, her posture regal, her face hidden beneath a heavy hood. As she reached the gates, she slowed her horse to a halt, her presence commanding despite her solitary arrival. The guards exchanged uneasy glances before stepping forward, their weapons held cautiously at their sides.

“State your name and purpose,” the first guard demanded, his voice steady despite the wariness in his eyes.

The rider lifted her head, revealing the pale, unblemished face of a woman with striking red hair. Her eyes seemed to look through the men rather than at them. She smiled faintly, the expression unsettling in its serenity.

“I am Melisandre of Asshai,” she said, her voice smooth and calm, yet it carried an undercurrent of authority that made the guards stiffen. “I have come to speak with Lady Lannister.”

The guards exchanged wary glances. “Lady Lannister does not receive unannounced visitors, especially at this hour,” the bearded one replied. “If you have a message, it can wait.”

Melisandre dismounted gracefully, her movements fluid despite the heavy fabric of her cloak. She stepped forward, the hem of her garments brushing against the snow-dusted ground, her eyes never leaving the guards. “This is no ordinary visit,” she said, her tone unwavering. “What I bring is not a message but a matter of great importance.”

One of the guards shifted uncomfortably. “What sort of matter?”

Melisandre’s lips curled into a faint smile, though it did little to soften her unnerving presence. “A matter of fire and shadow. But that is for Lady Lannister to decide, not her gatekeepers.”

The guards hesitated, clearly unsure of how to proceed. Finally, the bearded one nodded to another nearby soldier. “Fetch Ser Barristan. He will decide what to do with her.”

The soldier saluted and hurried off, leaving the others to keep watch over the red priestess. Melisandre waited patiently, her hands folded before her, her calm demeanor only adding to the unease of the men around her.

“Why do you wish to see Lady Lannister?” the first guard asked, his tone suspicious.

Melisandre’s gaze flicked toward him, her expression unreadable. “Because she walks a path few can see. Her choices will shape the fate of this world, and the flames have brought me to her.”

The guard frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Melisandre offered no answer, her attention shifting briefly to the towering form of Casterly Rock behind them. The brazier’s flames flickered as a gust of wind swept through, the firelight casting eerie shadows across her face.

The sound of footsteps drew their attention as Ser Barristan Selmy approached, his white cloak billowing slightly in the breeze. His expression was stern but calm as he took in the sight of Melisandre.

“Who are you, and why have you come here?” Barristan asked, his voice steady but laced with authority.

“I am Melisandre of Asshai,” she replied, inclining her head slightly in greeting. “I seek an audience with Lady Lannister. The matter is urgent.”

Barristan studied her for a long moment, his keen eyes narrowing slightly. “The Lady of Casterly Rock does not meet with strangers lightly, especially not in these times. State your purpose clearly.”

Melisandre’s gaze met his, unwavering. “The purpose is for Lady Lannister’s ears alone. But know this, Ser Barristan—what I bring concerns not just her family but all of Westeros.”

Barristan’s expression remained unreadable, though his posture stiffened slightly. After a moment, he nodded curtly. “You will be escorted to the castle. But tread carefully, priestess. This is not the North, and your words will be weighed carefully.”

Melisandre smiled faintly, her expression serene. “I would expect no less.”

As Barristan signaled for the guards to accompany her, Melisandre turned her gaze toward the abandoned mine entrance, the lair of the dragons beneath the Rock. She paused for a moment, her expression unreadable as she seemed to sense the presence within. The guards hesitated, unsure of whether to rush her along or let her linger.

“The flames burn strong here,” she murmured, almost to herself. “It is as the Lord of Light has shown me.”

Barristan’s voice broke through the tension. “Move along.”

With a final glance at the mine, Melisandre resumed her path, her red cloak billowing as she was escorted toward the gates of Casterly Rock. The shadows of the dragons followed her, unseen but ever-present.

[sweetbunpura]

Meanwhile Yuu who was kidnapped at RSA

ROUND TWO!

Round one

Daydreamers

Everyone's dressed in RSA outfits and the more noticeable members are disguised. They managed to sneak past the gate and make their way to the RSA dorm mirrors. The school's hall of mirrors was stunning, it was styled like an indoor garden with arched doorways leaning to the respective dorms.

"Oh, where we do even start?" Trey asks as he looks at the flower decorated archways.

"Flamme, who did you hear on the phone other than Child of Man?"

"Someone named Phara and Neige." Rollo answered. "And the name Chen'ya was mentioned."

Vil and Malleus' faces changed at the mention of Phara and Neige, meanwhile Riddle and Trey sighed as Chen'ya's name was mentioned.

"So... that narrows it down to 3 dorms-"

"Ah, wait." He interrupted. "I heard a voice with a thick accent as well."

"..." A shadow appeared over Trey's face. "Hatley."

"Oh my!" Rook exclaimed. "That's a face I haven't seen in a while!"

"I forgot that Trey-kun and Hatley don't see eye to eye..." Cater muttered as the Heartslabyul vice headed towards the doorway with a a 1/2 tag sticking out of a teacup was etched on it.

"Wait, Trey!" Riddle followed after him as well as the others. "Heartslabyul with me, you as well Rollo. Everyone else should stay here. We shouldn't make this obvious."

The doors opened automatically, transporting them into a wooded area with hedges that stretched high above into the treeline. Paper Lanterns were wrapped around the trees, illuminating the area and leading a path towards the door. Trey didn't hesitate in following the path, nearly leaving the others to quickly follow after him before they were left behind. Eventually, the woods slip apart and sunlight came through as the courtyard came into view along with a very vertical and massive building in the shape of a top hat

"Everyone," Riddle gained their attention. "This is Daydreamers."

Their dorm building sat on the edge of a cliff as it was sounded by hills and hedges. Trees of multiple shapes and sizes were twisted around one another and thrown about the courtyard and in the center of it was a massive set of tables. There were chairs: large, small, and misshapen. A massive lake sat behind the building as well, with ponds connecting to it.

Students were lazily taking naps nearby, some in hammocks attacked to the trees or on top of the balcony's on the building.

"Holy shit." Ace said in awe as he looked around.

"Ace." Riddle said as he looked at him. "Language."

"Sorry, sorry."

Rollo's eyes moved around the dorm to the various students napping, but he couldn't spot Yuu anywhere.

"I don't see her, perhaps she's inside?"

"I wouldn't just walk in there." Cater spoke. "You got Hatley roaming around and I have no idea where Andy is."

"Then what do you-"

"Oh, oh!" The sound of a voice coming towards them had everyone freezing as they turned their attention to see a fair skinned blond haired boy.

"I'm sorry!" He panted and placed his hands on his knees. "We got caught up and I didn't even welcome our guests!" He raised his head. "I'm Andrew Lovington, but you can call me Andy! I'm the dorm leader of Daydreamers!"

Now it was Riddle's turn to make a face as everyone looked at Andy.

"H-hello." Deuce timidly said.

"I haven't seen you guys around before!" Andy bounced between the NRC students. "Are you guys new-"

"Andy." A new voice, with a think accent, interrupted him. "I got this."

"But, Hatley!" Andy turned to pout as the approaching student. "I should be the one greeting guests!"

"Shoot, and I came all this way to tell ya Rod made brownies-" Hatley brought down his top hat as Andy took off without a second thought. "NRC students? Ya come looking for ya princess?"

Hatley was tall with caramel skin and mysterious gray eyes, he wore a green top hat and had long light brown hair. Trey immediately tensed up and glared at the boy.

"Bigsy."

"That ya Clover?" A smirk finds its way to Hatley's face. "Almost didn't recognize ya without that clover trademark." He poked Trey's marking. "Ya a couple of lost lambs, wandering too far from the flock."

"Where is she?" Deuce squared up, only to be pulled back by Ace.

"Yuu? Ah, Love is around here somewhere." Hatley straightens up and looks over his shoulder. "Chen'ya probably ran off with her."

Rollo tensed up at what he had called Yuu. "What did you say?"

A gray eye moved to stare Rollo down. "Hmm?"

"What did you call her?"

"Love? Whut? Is that a sore spot or sumethin'?" Hatley raised an eyebrow before it dawned on him. "Oh! Ya must be Rolls, huh?"

Cater quickly grabbed Rollo before he could attack a laughing Hatley.

"Calm yaself! Can't take a wee tease, can ya?"

"Hatley, we won't ask again. Where is Yuu?" Riddle gained the vice leader's attention. "We're taking her back home."

Hatley shrugged. "Dunno, Sissel probably took off with her." He rolled his eyes. "But, I'll be nice and throw ya a bone. She might be in Junglehearts." He turned on his heel. "Now off with ya, before ya alert the hoard."

[prettyundeadgirl]

Love Like Ghosts

│Track One of Strange Trails

Summary: Within the night, an inebriated Arthur returns. You take care of him, and when morning arrives, he realizes how in love he really is.

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x Female Reader

Wordcount: 1.0k

Tags: Fluff

AO3 Link

likes, comments, and reblogs are highly appreciated! :)

The silver moon, curved like a bear’s sharp claw, shone a hazy glow through the lattice of leaves in the caliginous night. Branches swayed peacefully in the breeze, and amid the grassy land, water coalesced atop the mire earth. Hidden in the wavering stalks, a small orchestra of katydids performed their stridulations.

Everyone had scattered to greet their awaiting slumber, and you remained awake, sitting on the stairs and leaning against the firm wooden pillar with nature’s veins strangling it. You were engrossed in a book Mary-Beth had lent to you—one she had owned the longest and must’ve been a personal favorite, you figured from the frayed edges of the spine and the worn pages. It had been your solace for the time being, distracting you from your ceaseless worrying about Arthur’s absence and staving off the encroaching drowsiness. The lantern beside you illuminated enough light for you to read the tiny printed letters.

Time flowed like a river, and you grew inevitably weary, eyelids beginning to close until you heard steady hooves clomping in the muddy grounds near the entrance. The sound resonated throughout the area as it came closer and closer. Arthur returned, almost falling as he tried to dismount his horse. He hitched the reins to the hitching post, all the while holding a bottle devoid of whiskey in his other hand. You closed the tattered book in haste and doused the lantern, rushing toward him.

“Oh, Arthur, I’ve been worried sick.” You admitted.

“Why?” He asked, practically tripping over his own steps.

“What do you mean ‘why?’ I care about you. More than you know.” Your voice was laced with much sincerity, and you stated your words in confidence, realizing he wouldn’t remember anything by morning. He looked into your soft gaze for a moment, his befuddled state along with the lack of light dulling your worried expression. “Come on. Let’s get you inside.” He let himself acquiesce to your words, and you placed his arm across your shoulders to give him as much support as you could offer.

“You look pretty tonight.” He slurred, and although you smiled and blushed at the compliment, you still rolled your eyes, knowing he was drunk and those words possibly held no truth.

Entering the once charming and grandiose manor that is now timeworn, veiled in the overgrowth of untouched green and merely a tomb contained with memories of the ones who inhabited it before, you guided him through the dark. Strangely, it provided a sense of comfort and safety, though not as much as Arthur did during your time with the gang.

The old stairs creaked in protest as you went up, and there was the occasional trip or two from Arthur, with a small chuckle following after. Pushing open the door revealed his cozy room, which was bathed in the soft gleam of moonlight filtered through the begrimed windowpanes and casting shadows on the walls. You removed his hat, placing it on the table nearby, and then, with careful and tender hands, you unbuckled his gun belt. It clinked as it came in contact with the wooden table. You laid him down and removed his boots, and when his eyes closed, you slowly pressed a small kiss on his forehead.

As you turned to make your way downstairs, a weak grip on your hand prevented you from doing so.

“Stay.” He murmured. “Please.”

“Why?” You repeated it in the same tone he had given you before.

“‘Cause I…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence for his half-mast eyes had spoken beyond what he could not, and deep within the beating chambers of your heart you knew what it was and felt the same.

You let out a sigh, “Move over.”

He provided as much room as the tight-fitted bed allowed, and as you lay side by side, he pulled you closer into him, arm twined around your waist, the space once between now nonexistent. There was a strong musk that was woven into the linen of his clothes, amalgamated with the scent of heady whiskey, and it wrapped around you with familiarity. You rested against his chest, feeling the slow rise and fall and hearing the drum of his heart against your ear, its rhythm growing faster as you placed your knee on his hip. 

His love for you was a quiet thing; it’s unrelenting and inevitable, yet everyone knew and talked about it. He harbored so much of it for you that it seemed to overflow in his drunken state, though it could only be expressed through actions such as placing the gentlest of kisses on your head, taking in the freshly washed scent of your hair, and holding you as close as he could. In your arms, there was a sense of comfort and peace that he hadn’t felt in a long time and never knew he had been missing in his life, and he was lulled into a calming sleep.

In the early wake of dawn, he hadn’t remembered much from the night as it was, for the most part, a disoriented blur, but he did recall your benevolent disposition, and he didn’t understand why you were so kind to him and always made an effort to look after his well-being. He always appreciated it nonetheless.

He had also recalled the vibrant color of your eyes in your gaze—irises deep and atlantic. He felt as though he could fall through them, following their course and soon getting lost in the darkness that lay beneath. They were endless and almost confusing, and he’d spend an eternity figuring out the mystery of them. A simple glance into your eyes, whether inebriated or not, would make the relentless, gloomy ruminations that sat in his mind scatter away.

He felt your warm presence alongside him, turning his head to your beautiful slumbering visage—peaceful and in bliss—that began his matutinal admiration. It was mesmerizing; you were mesmerizing to him. Every inch of you was, and he longed to live in this moment forever.

He wondered what he had said or done last night for you to end up in his bed and how he wished he could remember that part of the night. He relished the moment for a bit longer, tucking the wisps of hair behind your ear before reluctantly leaving.

[lycheeloving]

I KNOW MY THING IS "every member of the Justice League has their own darling". BUT. all of them having the same darling is so fun too... Some slight nsfw at the end so minors dni please. (Inspired by the A Day In Life series by @couldeatthatgirlforlunch, bc it's what made me think of the yandere JL so much that I had to write something. Hope it's ok to tag you!)

I feel like they'd have a schedule. Who's allowed to hang out with you at what time? Just a meticulous schedule that accounts for every second of every day, so that nobody gets to spend more time with you than somebody else.

They try to have one group meal every day, where everyone is present. So even if it's not somebody's turn to spend one-on-one time with you, they still see you and have the opportunity to talk to you that day. They rotate through who gets to sit next to you and right across from you. Those aren't hard rules though, if you want to sit next to somebody else, they begrudgingly (or happily, depending on if you're choosing to sit next to them) follow your wishes. A good way to get back at someone who annoyed you. Green Lantern won't stop bragging about how cool he was yesterday when he took down a bad guy? Get up and tell Superman to scooch over so you can sit next to Batman. Immediately shuts Hal up. And teaches them all not to annoy you during meals if they want to sit next to you.

You sleep in someone else's room every night. That's non-negotiable unfortunately, because some of them are better to sleep next to than others. I think the Flash would move around in his sleep a lot, maybe even snore? Superman treats you like a teddy bear and you can't wriggle out of his grasp when he's sleeping. Wonder Woman probably sprawls out all over the bed so you don't have a lot of space left. Green Lantern steals the blanket. Batman would be one of the better ones, if he wasn't such a light sleeper. Every time you move the slightest bit, he wakes up. Which you wouldn't mind, if he'd only stop his creepy staring... That being said, J'onn is probably the best, quiet and unmoving like Batman, but without the staring. He could be reading your mind and watching your dreams, but that's easier to ignore.

I also think they'd get used to the situation after a while and get more lax about the schedule, get less jealous, learn how to live together! Which is a huge advantage to you as you don't have to hurry from one place to the next to "make the most of your time together" or get back to the Watchtower quickly so you don't cut into the next persons time. That would cause lots of fights in the beginning. None of them blame you, of course, but living with them is still easier when everyone is getting along.

That still leaves the question of how they go about your firsts. Your first kiss with one of them, for example. Pulling names out of a hat? Fight over it? The strongest one gets to go first, the second strongest after that, etc? Letting you decide?

Same thing with having sex. These things are very serious to them so it'd take a while until they decide how to go about it. You'll probably have accepted your place among them at that point, maybe even come to like them?

I could really see them battling it out, even if their jealousy gets better after a while, they would all still want to be the first. Nothing where they'd seriously harm each other, but are still able to determine a winner. Whoever hits the ground first loses?

But whatever it is and whoever wins, I think your first time having sex with them would be a group activity. First place gets to actually have sex with you, second place gets to hold your head in their lap and gently stroke your face, third and fourth place get to sit next to you and each hold one of your hands, everyone else has to watch from the sidelines. (alternate option for that here)

The first kiss would also be in front of everyone else, so the others can stop it from "going too far", and wait for it to be their turn. You'll be kissing non-stop until they've all had their turn (in the order they previously fought over, of course.)

I have no clue who would win though! Superman would be the obvious answer, but if they're allowed to use (tiny, non-lethal amounts of) kryptonite? It could be anyone... Who do you think would win? Or who would you want to win?

[mochinomnoms]

"I want all of you. Every piece of you" + Sunlight with azul please! Fluff/nsfw

🦩

azul ashengrotto x gn!reader [tags] — nsfw-ish, fluff, lots of reference to the myth of icarus [wc} - 910 prompt 15: “I want all of you. Every piece of you.” song: Sunlight (Hozier, “Wasteland, Baby!”) note - idk why but i had a hard time with this one, so it's more romantic that nsfw. it's more alluded to it than explicit francesca (1k event)

“I had been lost to you, sunlight / And flew like a moth to you, sunlight, oh, sunlight / Oh, your love is sunlight”

Growing up in the deep sea, the only light was provided by bioluminescent algae shaped into lanterns. Not from sunlight. Growing up in the deep sea, the only warmth Azul experienced was from the embrace of his mother. Not from sunlight. 

So the early day sun peaking through the roof opening of the grotto over his eyes was still foreign, despite his time living on the surface. The warmth of the light was pleasant, however, it was currently blocked by something, or someone. 

“Azul, love?” you spoke softly as he sunk deeper into the water until only his eyes were visible. He felt a warmth in his cheeks as you admired him. 

“Come on, let me see you. My pretty, pretty boy.” 

It wasn’t the first time you’d seen him like this, but you’d only seen his merform once during his overblot. Azul wasn’t fond of the idea of letting you see him in his natural form, though. He spent so much time specially curating his image as a human, someone sleek, neat, and confident. Not this…squishy, wriggly, clumsy form he was born with. 

He was a creature suited for nothing but the dark, cold spaces of the deep sea, only seen by the bioluminescent patterning on his skin. 

“Are you sure you wouldn’t want to go back to the docks?”

He flinched as he heard a splash, hiding behind a rock as he felt you move through the water. Azul rested his forehead against the cool surface of the stone, sighing and closing his eyes. 

“Please, Angelfish, are you sure you want to do this? I don’t want to scare you…”

The sound of water alerted him to your movement again, though he couldn’t make out where you were without 

“I want you.” A soft hand threaded through Azul’s hair, making him open his eyes and look up at your form. You were sitting on the rock he rested against, leaning down as your hair fell over your shoulders the closer you came. The sunlight peering through the cave roof shone over you like a halo, you looked like a painting an artist made of an angel. 

“All of you. Please? My love?”

Despite his mind screaming at him to back up, to not let you touch his slimy, squishy skin, his tentacles had a mind of their own. 

One of his arms curled around your hand, another around your waist, two more around your hips, drawn to you. Drawn to your affections that you so freely give to a greedy man like he. Azul sighed again. 

“You’ve taken the water-breathing potion, yes?”

“Mm-hm, just a bit ago.”

“… Good.”

You gasped as Azul dragged you into the water as he sunk backwards. The water under the grotto was dark, almost black, except for the rays of sunlight turning the water into an ethereal green. Once again, Azul found himself beguiled by your visage, hair and clothes floating around you…his arms tightening his grip at the sight. 

They truly had a mind of their own, drawing their energy from Azul’s true thoughts and urges. And how could he resist when you so freely offered yourself, love and body, to him.

Azul tangled himself in your embrace, claiming your mouth with his, drawing your tongue into his mouth to suck and explore. He reveled in the whimper that left you, tightening his hold as his tentacles slithered under your clothes, groping and suckers leaving behind marks. 

“Mmmh, Azul…” You gasped, exposing your neck for him to suckle marks, trailing down your body. Several of Azul’s arms gently pushed your clothes and undergarments off to have easier access to you. His suckers attached themselves to your sensitive area, shivering in its taste. 

“I almost forgot the benefits of being in this body… I can feel and taste your entire being with more than just my tongue. Your pulse drums beneath my grip, the salt on your skin floods my senses, and the sweetness down here.”

One tentacle with a spade-shape was brushing over your hole, pressing in slowly as you clenched onto Azul’s shoulders at the sudden stretch. 

“S-slower, Azul please, it’s too much—AAAH~”

Pressing his tentacle dick into your heat, Azul nuzzled his nose against your own as he fell deeper into desire. He shuddered at the surrounding tightness, getting drunk at the pleasure of your being, at the kisses you fluttered against his face, at the thought of permanently mark you as his with more than just his seed. 

Like Icarus reaching for his love Apollo, Azul would gladly risk flying too close to the sun, and feel the intense burn of its fiery gaze. Unlike Icarus, the way you looked at him like he was the celestial body itself made him certain that you’d never burn him and cast him back to the dark sea. 

Perhaps it was the intoxication from the sybaritism in his veins, bringing him and closer to an orgasm, that would let you two see the god. But he had no need when you were before him, his warmth. The Apollo to your Icarus, the root to his pleasure.

The cry you let out as he brushed against a particularly sensitive spot, throwing your head back as the sun shone on you like a heavenly being, reaffirmed you as his own sunlight.

comments and reblogs appreciated 🩷

[runningfrom2am]

cold nights // part twenty

summary: you showed him colours he knows he can't see with anyone else.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 6.1k (YIKES)

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: tribute!reader and mentor!coriolanus, r is very sweet (too kind for this world. literally.), sunshine x grumpy trope kinda, he falls first, violence typical for the source material, depictions of mental illness, also she's is very smart (as she should), district twelve!reader.

a/n: guyssss guys guys guys omg :,) also s2 only has two parts left!!

my asks are also open to talk about this series! (i do have emoji anons open now too!)

send me any and all of your thoughts! here!

series masterlist // playlist

The air is brisk as it surrounds you in the night, chilling you down to the bone, but with a book in your lap and a blanket draped over your shoulders, you don't mind the cold. Not one bit.

You're reading the same page over and over again- Romeo and Juliet. Act two, scene two. Your monologue. You flip the page, and that's all there is.

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.'

You whisper this, smiling softly to yourself. The grass tickles the undersides of your arms and when you look up, you see the stars. Thousands and thousands of them- more than you could count if you were given a pen and paper and a month to try. It's beautiful.

You lay back into the wild grass, letting it consume you. You can smell it as the long blades brush across your cheeks.

"Y/N?" You freeze at the sound of your name, not that you are really moving. You just hold tight onto the air in your lungs, as if exhaling it could light a beacon to you. Your heartbeat was thrumming in your chest- you were afraid.

"Y/N?" The voice comes again. Coriolanus. He shouldn't be here, he doesn't know where you go at night when you need to end your unfortunate days. Why is he here?

You don't move, eyes wide open as you stare at the sky. Maybe he'll go away, maybe he'll ignore the lantern still burning close enough that you could read under its flame. As if.

"Y/N, you have to go." Now you can hear the grass rustling with every slow step he takes, and he's trying to be quiet. Whispering, as if there was anyone here for miles.

"Go, hide. It's not safe for you out here."

You sit up quickly, scrambling onto your feet. He's close enough now that he's certainly seen you. You get no chance to say anything before you realize you weren't in the field you thought you were. Grass covers the ground of the Capitol arena, and alongside the long green leaves, Coryo's scarf is draping down your side, brushing your legs.

"Coryo?" You say, but you're not looking at him. The compact weighs heavily in the pocket of your dress as you spin around, taking in the dark space. Your lantern flickers out.

"Y/N." He says again, and your eyes snap back to him. His hair is short, buzzed almost down to his scalp like the last time you saw him. "Hide. Now."

"But, I-"

It was too late, and quickened footsteps alerted you to someone else coming.

"Come on, come on!" Coryo grabs you by the wrist quickly, pulling you with him toward the exit glowing red in the night as you abandon your book and blanket.

His hand shifts to hold yours, attempting to force you ahead of himself. You want to look back, but he won't let you. The exit feels miles away. You can't take leave- you don't know why you're running with him. You'll be killed. You'll be killed either way.

You fall through the turnstiles, the mocking automatic voice from the speakers going ignored as you hit the ground. You don't know what you fell onto, you look and there's nothing there, but blood begins to pour from three linear wounds in your leg and a gash on your upper arm.

"Are you okay? Hey, are you okay?" Coryo is in your face now, kneeling in front of you and trying to get you up.

You can't speak, looking past him at the faceless shadow following you. Pushing yourself back against the wall, they glide through the gate and Coryo turns quickly, hands raised. "Wait! Don't! He shouts, but has to duck as they swing something at them.

"Y/N- Run!" He yells at you, but you can't move. You curl up against the wall, burying your face in your knees.

You hear the sharp swing of metal in the air. Once, twice, and you're waiting for an impact that doesn't come until you hear Coryo cry out in pain instead.

You feel the grind of cement next to you as something is lifted from the ground.

"I don't want to hurt you!"

Another swing.

And then a cracking noise, and the turnstile again.

"Enjoy the show!"

You look up then, watching just as the shadow hits the ground across the gate.

"Coryo?" You push yourself up using the wall. He doesn't look back at you, but you can see his shoulders rise and fall with his breaths as he stares at the shadow now sprawled out across the ground.

He swings the club again, the cement block disappearing into the grass with a hard thud.

You don't run.

"Coryo, let's go. Please... let's just go." Your voice comes out small, but he still hears you.

He turns, and you aren't afraid. "Y/N-" He drops the weapon and you take an involuntary step back. You look into his eyes, cleared of the blonde curls he recently buzzed off.

Sky blue. Angry. No- baby blue. Worried.

He's afraid.

"Y/N, wait." He pleads with you, hands clear as he takes a step closer. This time, you let him. "Please don't walk away again."

"What did you say?" You ask, brow furrowed at the familiar statement as you take another step back.

"Please, don't run from me."

When you wake, you feel different. You feel your blood pumping quick through your veins as you stare at the ceiling, the sun peaking in through the curtains like usual, but you feel more sick than scared.

It's a welcome change.

Crawling out of bed, you pull a dress on over your pyjama shorts, deciding that would likely be fine since you didn't plan on leaving the house today. Maybe to go out to the meadow, but with sleep still blurring your vision you weren't ready to make any big decisions like that yet.

You felt guilty about ruining the lake day for everyone. It wasn't a bad panic attack, they did have to jump into action the way they did and try to rush you home, but they had. You can't be upset at them, Lennox and Lucy Gray only wanted to protect you.

You wish Maude Ivory hadn't seen you cry.

The hike back is all you can think about while you make your morning tea.

You watched as Sejanus grabbed Coryo by the arm, pulling him back up and into the cabin and shutting the door behind them.

No one bothered to get you dressed again, the priority just being to get you home. Lucy Gray had helped you get your shoes back on, and Lennox practically lifted you to your feet. You were still shaking, but the tears had lessened and you could breathe again.

"Tam Amber, will you go ask the boys if they remember the way back?" Lucy Gray whispered to her cousin and he nodded, running off the dock.

"You're safe. It's just us here." She reminded you as you watched him hurry away.

"But... But Coryo-" You stammered, suddenly shivering.

"I know, I know, Hun." She wrapped the blanket back around your shoulders. "He's gone. You're okay."

"No, no I-"

You heard Tam Ambers footfalls returning, just as hastily as he had gone. "They remember." He nodded to your friend.

"Okay, will you tell them to wait twenty minutes before following us?" She told him and he nodded again, disappearing once more.

"Lucy Gray, it's, it's okay. I don't think they need to wait." You tried to explain, and she had to lean in to listen to you.

"I know, it's okay." Clearly, she didn't know what you were trying to say. "I promise you they can handle themselves, you don't worry about it." But you weren't worried about them. You wanted them to come.

"E-Every one can master a grief but he that has it." You huff through shaky breaths, frustration at their lack of understanding building in your tone. Why couldn't they see that he was helping you?

Lennox and Lucy Gray look at each other on either side of you, but say nothing.

You looked back at the cabin over your shoulder as your brother and best friend guided you away, the rest of the Covey in tow.

You hadn't seen either of the Capitol boys since.

Coryo walks into Sejanus's room, expecting him to still be sleeping. It's early, the sun just peaking over the mountains, but he's not there. He was out late the night before, so maybe he hadn't come home. He did mention something about possibly staying with Lucy Gray after her show.

They would only be in town for another couple of weeks, he was getting down to the wire of time he had to earn your trust back. He was fucking it up royally, and he wasn't even sure he could go home without any conclusions. He just needed to talk to you, if it was him who was hurting you, and you said the best thing he could do was leave and never look back, he would do it in a heartbeat. He'd never recover, but he'd be willing to do anything to know you were happy. Or at least getting there.

But you hadn't said that. Remembering your conversation at the lake, he didn't feel like all hope was lost. Even if Lucy Gray and Lennox wouldn't let him anywhere near you. He couldn't give up yet.

This is why, in all honesty, he is lucky that Sejanus didn't make it home last night.

He saw his friend writing in a notebook the other day, so he opened the bedside drawer to try and find it. He'll just leave a note saying he's going for a walk, and Sejanus likely won't suspect he's going to go try and talk to you and come stop him. If he even wakes up from his hangover with enough time to find the note and then catch him.

When Coryo opens the drawer, that's not what he finds. Well, it is, and he pulls the pad of paper and pencil out, but his eyes catch on something else. Cash. And lots of it.

He looks over his shoulder at the door before picking it up and picking through it. It must have been in the tens of thousands. Why would Sejanus bring so much money to District Twelve of all places? He wishes he could understand rich kids.

He sits on the bed and opens the notebook, pausing again when he sees some scribbled notes.

'Hob, 10 pm, 08/17

Broken fence, storage shed. 4 am, 08/18

Lennox ?'

Brow furrowed in confusion, Coryo turns the page. Nothing else. No other context clues as to what on earth this could mean. It was meeting places and times. He looks around again as if he could find answers in the walls of the small bedroom.

Nothing.

He quickly shoves the notepad back into the drawer and leaves. Maybe he didn't need to leave a note after all.

Coryo had to move quickly. Collecting yet another peace offering, some kind of treat, and then make it to your house before Sejanus or Lucy Gray can intercept. He does it, but there was still the biggest obstacle yet- your brother. He prays as he knocks that Lennox doesn't open the door.

When there's a knock on the door, you leap from your bench on the back porch, quietly slipping back in the door. You were home alone, only for a few hours while your mom handled some business in town and Lennox went to hang out with some friends. Your mother didn't want to let you, she wanted you to come, but you insisted. You were an adult, you could be home alone for a few hours.

Who on earth would knock on the door right in that window of time?

Sneaking into your parents' bedroom, you peek out of the curtains to try and look at the front door.

No. This is ridiculous.

You force yourself to straighten up, smoothing the front of your dress and taking a deep breath. You're home. You're safe. No one at the door is here to hurt you.

You pace up to the front door just as another quick three knocks ring out. Deep breath. You twist and pull the handle.

"Y/N." Coryo grins, relief washing over him like a wave that only lasts a moment. "Here, these are for you." He holds out a small bouquet of flowers before you get the chance to slam the door in his face.

You can't help the smile that pulls at your lips when you look down at the hand he extends to you.

Butterflies. The very same ones you felt the first time he gifted you a flower.

"Coryo, you don't have to bring me flowers every time you see me." You giggle, and he smiles. The relief is back.

"Well, I'd like to. You deserve nothing less."

You look up through your lashes at him, slightly shaking your head. Your smile doesn't slip as you examine his features, checking his eyes. As blue and clear as the lake you swam in last week. "Would you like to come in?" You offer, unsure of yourself up until the point the words leave your mouth.

"I would love to." Coryo smiles so wide you feel as though your own heart could burst. You're doubting yourself for ever being afraid of him, but as he passes you into the threshold of your home, you remember why. Deep breath.

"You came at a good time." You joke, closing the door behind him and stepping into the kitchen as it's laid out next to the front door.

"Oh?"

"Well, Lennox isn't here to push you down the front steps." You giggle. Maybe you shouldn't be telling him you're home alone. Your heart stops for a beat.

And then he laughs, and everything is okay again as you pull a vase down from atop the fridge, placing it in the sink to rinse off. "That is true." He agrees.

"But, I'll warn you, Tybs is here somewhere. He's always watching." You look at him over your shoulder as you place the flowers down and run the tap into the ceramic vase.

"Noted." Coryo chuckles, looking around his feet to see if the cat had come to say hello.

He watches you as you turn back around to focus on your task. Watching you wash dishes was a privilege he never even considered that he wanted, but now that he had it, he was more certain than ever that he could never let you go.

It was so good to see you have some peace.

"I brought some things for a picnic, I was hoping you could take me to the meadow you told me about. I'd really like to see it." He asks as you dry off the outside of the vase, proceeding to fill it with water.

"I was going to head out there myself, actually. That sounds perfect." He watches your hair move as you nod, popping the flowers into the vase and turning to show him. The smile on your face makes his heart melt. He didn't know that feeling was real.

"How do they look?" You ask, quickly adjusting some.

"Lovely." Coryo grins and your lips pull together, looking back down at the bouquet in your hands.

"Thank you, by the way. I realize I didn't say thank you." You say, carrying the vase out to the living room and he follows while you place it on the coffee table.

"You don't have to." He shakes his head. "To be honest, I didn't even expect you to accept them."

"Oh, would you like them back?" You ask, worried.

That's not what he meant, you were just too sweet. "No, I picked them for you."

"Would you tell me if you did want them back?" You ask, wiping your hands off from stray water on the front of your dress.

"Probably not." He admits with a smile that matches yours, shaking his head. "I suppose you'll just have to trust me."

"Here we are!" You grin, flipping out the quilt you brought from your room for the two of you to sit on.

Coryo looks around. It's a big open field, with trees and hills in the distance. He did imagine it would be beautiful at night like you said, but he never thought that during the day it would be as much of a sight. After years and years of coming to this exact spot, the grass is shorter here. Already conditioned to not grow where this family could come and sit during the days and nights of your childhood- you had built the perfect little spot to lay down a sheet.

You're already sitting down cross-legged on the hand-sewn material when he looks at you again. "Thoughts?" You ask, tipping your head up at him. "You look like you're thinkin'."

"Yeah, yeah. It's beautiful. This isn't what I pictured."

"No?" You ask as he sits down next to you, adjusting on the blanket and placing his bag on the corner.

"No. Nothing like this." He answers. "It's much bigger."

You giggle, looking around. "So you understand what I was missing, then."

"Yeah." He breathes the word out with a slight nod, but he's still staring at you even as he pulls everything out of his bag. Some cookies, and the book.

"So," You start with a smile, and he looks up at you. You look down at the book, your train of thought completely leaving you when you see it. "You brought it..." You mumble, reaching out to touch the cover.

He lifts it to hand it to you, but you quickly pull your hand away as if the book could bite. You look between him and the leather-bound book in his hand, cheeks flushing. "I-I don't, I'm sorry. I don't know why..." You laugh awkwardly, looking instead out to the woods that surround you.

Your trauma had consistently manifested in the strangest of ways. That book had done nothing to hurt you, you knew that, but it did remind you of the nights and days you spent reading it before the games when Coryo was locked away in the hospital. The memory almost makes you sick.

"Don't be." Coryo shakes his head at you. "I get it." He puts it down on the other side of himself, just out of your view. "I just... I know you usually read out here. So I wanted to bring a book too. It's the only one I have here."

You smile nervously and nod. "I'm glad you like it." You look over your shoulder when you hear a soft 'meow' from within the grass. "Someone followed us."

You let out a soft gasp, smiling as your cat emerges from the tall blades next to you. They were only about knee height to you, but they completely swallowed his small form. "Tybs!" You grin, opening your arms to him and he crawls straight into your lap. "Good King of Cats, there you are." You scoop him up, kissing him on his fluffy head.

"Y/N," Coryo says, drawing your attention again. You hum, face still pressed into Tybalt's fur as you hug him. "I... I was hoping we could talk about some things, if you feel safe enough. I know with just me it's scary but there's some things I really need to tell you before I have to leave and no one will let me talk to you, so now feels like my only chance."

"Okay." You nod, lowering Tybs down onto your lap again, holding him close. "But... I just, I don't want you to have to deal with me if I... I don't know, panic. I can't promise you I won't, and it's embarrassing."

"That's okay." He assures you, scanning your face closely even as you avoid his eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you, so if you can't talk about it it's totally okay. I can try my best to say what I need to say without scaring you."

"No, no I... There's stuff I have to say to you too." You confess to him. "I just, it is so frustrating to not be able to talk about anything without feeling like... I can't communicate what I need to say. Or like I'm dying."

Coryo nods, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "I'll be as patient as you need me to be." He promises. "I can't imagine what that's like for you." He adds, almost whispering. You have always expressed yourself so eloquently through words, and in a way, the games, he has taken that from you.

You pull your bottom lip between your teeth and nod, focussing on petting your cat. You can feel the vibrations of his purring against your body, and that helps already.

"It's hard." You admit quietly. "I still sometimes feel like no one wants to listen to me when I can talk about what happened. It's always the same thing." You shake your head, letting out a slight laugh. "Do you know how many times I've heard 'You're safe now'? Or 'you're home now. It's okay'? Because it's a lot. And I know that. I know they're just trying to help, but... It's more complicated than that."

"There's no guidebook on living with this stuff." Coryo agrees. "That's what your father told me."

"He's right." You mumble. "No one knows what to do, Twelve has never had a Victor before. I'm lucky number one, and it feels like nobody sees me as human anymore. Not even Lucy Gray. Not even my family."

"I do."

You smile sadly at him. "Coryo, I..." You sigh, shaking your head and grounding yourself in feeling Tybalt rub his head against your palm, begging to be pet. "Is this real?"

He furrows his brow slightly with confusion.

"I mean, I don't-" You sigh. "I feel like I am being so daft but Sejanus says he thought you actually cared about me but that was back in the Capitol so I just need you to be honest with me."

"Y/N..." He shakes his head at you, fully in disbelief. "I have never lied to you. I don't think I could even if I wanted to."

"No, not- not like that." You sigh, shaking your head. "I mean, the way you acted. The things you did- I feel like I don't know who you really are."

"You know me. Better than anyone." He assures you, voice soft with sincerity. He doesn't want to be offended, but he'd still like to understand.

"You said... you said you wanted to start over." You say after a moment, looking into his eyes and loosening your grip on your cat as he adjusts the way he's laying over your bare legs. "So... can we?"

Coryo smiles, giving you a quick nod. "My name is Coriolanus Snow." He starts, and he can see how closely you're watching him, a small smile growing on your lips. That's not exactly what you meant, and he knew it. "But you can call me Coryo. That's what my friends call me."

How could he miss the apples of your cheeks turning slightly pink under the sun?

"I was born and raised in the Capitol, and I'm an orphan. My mother died in childbirth, and my sister didn't make it. My father died here, in Twelve. I live with my cousin, Tigris, and our Grandma'am, and my whole life I have been starving." He admits, swallowing as he monitors your reaction closely. Sadness. Empathy. "One time, during the war, I even ate a jar of paste just to stop the pain in my stomach." He smiles as he says it, it's meant to be funny- to try and keep you with him as he speaks.

He raises an eyebrow at you as you can't help but giggle. "I'm sorry, that must have been awful."

"It was certainly... pasty." He chuckles, shaking his head slightly. "But then, the moment I first laid eyes on you and was told you would be my tribute, I knew that everything was going to change."

You think back to the reaping, and how he must have watched. One of many memories that haunted you now doesn't seem all that scary, knowing he was with you even then.

"I was angry, I knew Highbottom was trying to sabotage me- to give me no chance at winning the prize but I didn't know that the universe was just bringing me to you."

"Coriolanus." You grin, tilting your head at him. "It's a pleasure to meet you again."

"Did you know that I was named after a play?" He asks, a teasing smile pulling at his lips knowing that the only reason he knew that was because of you.

"Oh? What's it about?" You humour him, and he chuckles shaking his head at you.

"Well, it's a long story, really, but it's about a man in ancient Rome who gets put in a position of power, and makes some pretty big mistakes." He quotes as much of what he can remember you telling him. "Then the people of the city hated him, and he was cast out because he betrayed people who trusted him."

You don't say anything, hanging on every word of his interpretation.

"And sometimes I feel like it's a fitting name." He continues, voice lowering with seriousness now. "But I don't think I am like him, because I regretted my mistakes the moment I made them. And I think that if he was more like me, and had someone who made him want to be a good man, his story wouldn't have ended too tragically."

You feel the telltale burn of tears brimming your eyes, and Coryo watches you closely. Your breathing is steady, the ghost of a smile still on your lips.

"Are you okay?" He asks quietly, reaching up to push your hair from where a piece is beginning to fall into your eyes. He's careful not to move too quickly, or even to touch your skin.

You nod, briefly drawing your lip in between your teeth while you think. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Coryo smiles, almost in disbelief. "You forgive me, then?"

"I'm a Victor." You state, although your whisper sucks almost all the confidence out of your voice as you focus on Tybalt purring against your lap. "If I expect forgiveness in return I need to give it, don't I?"

"You don't need forgiveness from anyone." He insists, smile fading. "You didn't do a single thing wrong."

"I think I did." You admit, lip beginning to wobble as you try and remember, looking down at your cat and stroking his back almost obsessively. "I should have gone back for Wovey, I should have stayed with Jessup, and... and I think I killed those boys, Coryo. I haven't told a soul and it's been killing me."

When you look back up at the boy next to you, his heart breaks. You hadn't done anything wrong; you even tried your best to be a pacifist when thrown into the Hunger Games, of all things, and still, you found things to blame yourself for. "Do you remember what I told you?" He asks, very slowly and carefully reaching out to swipe away a tear from your cheek. "That we all do things we aren't proud of to survive. That doesn't make you a wicked person."

"Is it true?" You ask, resisting your gut and it wanting you to lean into his touch. "That... that I killed them?"

"No." He answers. "I did. I gave you the compact."

"But I used it."

"You had no choice." He reminds you. "That was my fault, and I'll take the blame for it but I won't lie and tell you that I regret it."

You take a sharp breath in. His eyes. Look at his eyes.

"I did it to save you, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I couldn't live with myself if I let you die. You saved my life first, and you could have ran but you didn't." He wouldn't let you beat yourself up about something that was his fault. "You could have saved yourself, but you gave up that chance for me. I couldn't let you die. It would be such a waste for the world to lose a girl like you."

"Coryo... That's not right." You say, shaking your head. The way your face fell made him nervous. "You can't tell me you did it for me. That is not as noble as you feel like it is."

He felt stupid for telling you that, despite its truth. You wouldn't like it, he knew that. "I know, but I don't want to keep anything from you. I have to tell you why I did the things I did, I have to get you to trust me again. I'd speak every thought I'll ever have if that's what it takes."

You take a shaky breath. "What about when you killed Bobbin?" It took you a moment to even get the words to leave your mouth- and he waited all the while. Powder blue. Patient.

"I... okay." Coryo nods to himself. "I was scared, I didn't want to do it. Sejanus was injured, I remember realizing he couldn't walk. I tried to talk to the boy, but he wouldn't listen..." He trails off, not daring to break eye contact with you. "I felt... desperate. I was panicking, and then... powerful. That's the only way I can describe it. That I wasn't helpless anymore, the way I always had been."

His words are terrifying to you, but you can't look away as you tuck Tybalt closer to your chest. He's stopped purring, but he's breathing against you, craning into your touch. It's actively keeping you grounded through your fear.

"Then I looked at you," Coryo continues. "And I thought that I should have let him kill me instead, because maybe that would have hurt you less."

You swallow the anxiety sitting heavy and thick in the back of your throat. If it was you, you would have thought 'Yes. I should die before taking the life of another,' but since it was Coryo, your gut reaction was telling you to say no; to reassure him that he was only protecting himself and it was scary but he had done the right thing. The realization that he outweighed your own morals and the fact that as much as you wanted to say that, you weren't sure you would stick to it yourself now was a sick combination of things to grapple with all at once.

"Stop, please." You say quietly, feeling your heartbeat picking up just behind your ears. You don't even notice when you had looked away, but your eyes are shut tight.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop." Coryo quickly promises. "But I need you to look at me, okay? Can you do that?"

When you don't immediately respond, he takes the calculated risk of rubbing your back. It didn't scare you last time, it almost seemed to help for the brief moment you were able to look at him.

"I'm sorry." You say quickly, voice cracking.

"Don't be." He says softly, feeling how quickly you're breathing with the hand he has so delicately placed on your back.

It almost makes him cry, too, not knowing what to do to help. It was his fault, again, and this time there was no Lucy Gray or Lennox to come running. He looks around anyway as you cling to the cat in your lap. Tybalt. Quickly, he looks down to the book at his side.

"Oh sweet Juliet," He says, no better ideas surfacing on how to help you. He would make a fool out of himself if he must, but he had to try. "Thy beauty has made me effeminate, and in my temper softened... valor's steel." He tries to remember, and prays that he remembered it correctly.

Under his hand he feels you shake, and he tries to catch your eyes again. It takes him a moment to realize that you weren't crying harder- he hadn't made it all worse again. You were laughing.

He grins, chuckling slightly. "There she is, hey, hey... Look at me."

You turn your head, your smile already mostly gone by the time your eyes reach his.

"I don't remember it, can you refresh me?" He asks, trying to give you an adequate distraction.

"That... that scene? Uh-" Your mind is short-circuiting, running a million miles a minute to try and remember more details. What came before, what came after?

"Anything. Any part you want."

"Okay. Okay..." You nod, trying as best you can to take a deep breath. "Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-browed night. Give me my Romeo, and, when I shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night..."

Just like at your interview, Coryo watches your anxiety begin to melt away as you recite every line. Something about it was so calming to you. It forced you to focus on something other than the tightness in your chest and the tremor of your hands.

"Atta girl..." Coryo nods, proud as he keeps rubbing your back. "Are you feeling a little better? Do you want some water?"

"I- I can get it." You nod quickly, reaching for the bag and digging for your water bottle, careful to not disturb the cat on your lap.

"I'm sorry." He says, withdrawing his hand so you can drink in peace. "I hate that the games have done this to you..."

You seal up the bottle again, wiping your lips on your wrist and shaking your head. "No one can come out of that unchanged, but... let's talk about something else, please."

"I just... I hope you know how much I truly care for you. That's real. That will always be real." Coryo promises, allowing you to put the bottle down before taking your hand.

His hands are slightly cold against the one of yours he is holding, and you attribute that to your no doubt increased blood pressure. There's nothing but pure, undiluted honesty in his eyes.

"I read your note." He continues, wanting to explain but you look away quickly, letting out a slight laugh. He's never seen your face so red.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said the things I did. It was foolish and I was feeling so confident knowing that that day very well may have been my last and-"

"It wasn't foolish." Coryo smiles slightly, moving so he can look in your eyes again. "It was sweet, and all this time I have been dying to tell you that I love you. I do." The confession has his heart pounding as if he were the one who is still coming down from a panic attack.

For the first time maybe in your whole life, you were speechless. It didn't feel like all the love stories you had read in books that made your heart flip the way it just had- it was more. It was your story, and no quote felt quite fitting to describe your own feelings. They were all yours.

"Is that... is that okay? I don't want to scare you but-" Coryo doesn't even get the chance to finish before your lips are against his.

You are kissing him. You're real, you're alive, and he is finally getting that second kiss that he never thought he would have. You were still his.

Your cat had long abandoned his post on your lap by the time Coryo processed this and moved his hands up to grasp your cheeks. He's as gentle as he possibly can be, he knows he's being somewhat irrational to imagine you just vanishing from his hold like you had consistently done in his dreams. This wasn't that; your lips against his, your unbelievably soft skin under his hands.

"I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest." You mumble against his lips, having finally found something close enough to express it.

This was real, you were there, and Coriolanus would never let you walk away again.

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okay suddenly tumblr isn't letting me tag more people than this so i just made some cuts unfortunately :') i just left the max amount of people i could whose users i recognized and see in my notifs all the time :) if you're not on here and you should be i'm so sorry!

also this taglist is closed now!! if you’d like to get a notification when i update, turn on my post notifications!! i promise i won’t spam y'all :,)

[irenadel]

And if the devil… 10/10

Aemond Targaryen X Maid!Reader TW: For the aftermath of DV Thank you to @barbieaemond for letting me use her beautiful gifs to make this lovely fic banner. As promised am tagging @prettyduckling22

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9

It is raining heavily when the queen finds you. The lantern she holds aloft barely lets her and her father see you and they dare not come any closer. Her son’s dragon is wide awake, making a dreadful rumbling sound somewhere deep in her gullet. There is a soft, hazy glow all along the beast’s underbelly, like dying embers, like a fire you make the mistake of considering dead.

Alicent feels like her entire body has been turned to lead, soft and infinitely heavy. She hears her father hold his breath and knows, at least, she is not alone in her terror.

He does not leave her. He holds her shoulders steady and Alicent is grateful for that.

“Aemond…”

When Vhagar picks her head from the ground, moves it like Alicent imagines avalanches must move, she is still making that wrathful, rumbling sound. The ground shakes with it. Her legs feel like they will not carry her weight and she wants to weep, like a child, when the dragon opens her mouth to breathe hot and humid and carrion-like upon her.

She wonders if this was the last thing her son saw with both eyes, before that terrible night where it had all begun to go wrong.

“Try again,” her father whispers in her ear. Always try again. Never a moment’s rest.

“Aemond please,” she croaks out, the feeble light of her lantern trembling in the wind. “I’ll be quick.”

The dragon makes another noise and Alicent finds it to be the most awful of all, for she feels it, to the bottom of her belly, a heavy, nauseous weight, a near human moan of pain. When Vhagar cocks her massive head to better look at her, Alicent nearly cries in fear until she sees those eyes. Always they had seemed beady and lizard-like to her, predatory and unknowable, but now they just seem miserably tired.

For a moment she feels ashamed.

I trusted you with him, the ancient, watery eyes of the dragon Vhagar seem to say to her. I trusted you with him and always you have failed me. First the eye and now this…

She breathes the words between near-clenched teeth and it is a wonder to her that the dragon seems to understand as she turns from her and to her father behind her. She advances without him, without even looking back at him, unable to explain the price of going under the great dragon Vhagar’s wings to him.

He would not have paid it anyway. He has never paid it for her.

When she finds you and her son laying against the wall of stinking, warm scales she almost pays it again. She covers her mouth and traps the words behind her fingers. 

I’m sorry, she wants to repeat, but finds she cannot. Not when confronted with her son’s bloodied face years ago, not now that he doesn’t look at her, you in his arms, wrapped in his green cloak, kept warm by dragonfire, dry by one leathery wing held close to the dragon’s body. She barely recognizes you in the gloom under Vhagar’s shadow. Ugly, scrawny thing that you had been. Remarkable only for your strange coloring and the princess’s favor. You had made Helaena happy and thus the queen had tolerated your ill manners. You had been smart and obedient and made yourself scarce when you had become a problem and Alicent had been grateful for the discretion if for nothing else.

Now she feels ill looking at the blood upon your dress. She cannot tell much else with her single lantern’s light and she almost doesn’t dare whisper it: “Is she alive?”

Aemond’s hand stops, halfway through caressing your short, matted hair. There’s dried blood all over one side of your face, your temple and cheek having already swollen black and blue. Your eyes are closed, your hand holding onto the prince’s neck is swollen too, white-knuckled and clenched.

He still does not look at her.

“You can leave now,” he answers and Alicent does not know his voice in that moment. Wants to shake some sense into him as she has done to his brother so many times. A man’s voice, with a petulant boy’s demand.

“She needs a maester, Aemond,” she tries again, not even knowing if it would not just be wiser to let this all die down. Let things take their natural course and help her son mourn, later, once the danger is over.

Aemond is speaking to you, low and gentle, in a soft, kind tone Alicent hasn’t heard from him since he had both eyes. Some of it must be High Valyrian, the rest Alicent cannot recognize. There is a cadence to it, like music. Through it, she hears Vhagar howl again, sees the pebbles on the floor jump with the monstrous vibration of it all and knows she cannot.

Who knows what would be left of her boy if she lets him lose one more thing?

“I’ll bring the maester here,” she capitulates, kneeling down besides the two of you, just to get a better look at you. A fever, she feels when she dares put her hand on your ruined cheek. But you breathe at least. When she gets up to leave, she feels the tug of her son’s hand on her wrist, terrifyingly strong and uncaring, but is glad that he should at least look at her now.

“It was a lost babe,” he says, his voice that of a man, she realizes now, because all emotion is gone from it. Alicent’s heart turns to ice. “A beating and a punch to the gut.”

She had not fled Vhagar when the hoary old thing had turned to her, but she flees her son now. You and her son.

Things have a price, the septons had said sometimes, when she was young and naughty and free. She thinks of Aemma Arryn and her own four living children. She thinks of her daughter, white-faced and grim in spite of the healthy, beautiful babe she had borne. When she ignores her father’s imprecations, when she drags a young and discrete maester to the seaside cliff where Vhagar nests, when together they try to pry you from Prince Aemond’s arms and succeed only in getting him to carry you gently, ever so gently, back to the Red Keep, she thinks of the price of things.

An apology she will never speak to her child but only to his dragon.

A girl’s life. A boy’s soul.

She is done letting her son pay the price and she tells her father as much. He can handle the gossip and the angry lords. It matters little. If he cannot, then perhaps her son’s dragon will.

The prince waits.

He watches a young, redhead maester unstick the clothes off your body and sponge the blood off your skin. Grand Maester Mellos is too important to bother with you.

He listens and seethes. His mother behind him, eyes moist, looking to him though he cannot answer them.

The young maester tells you the blows to the head are the most worrisome. That and your coming cold. He does not use the word babe when he says there should be no lasting damage, it was an early pregnancy. He gives you willow bark tea for the pain and makes you sweat out the rest of your fever. Rest and food should put you to rights, he says to you. He speaks only to you, firm but gentle, not to the prince standing besides your bed, sword-straight and impassive. He is too cautious and well-mannered to let more than pursed-lips betray his anger at whatever royal mistreatment has befallen you. He has no qualms in telling you to call him if you were to have need of moontea, even with the queen and prince balefully looming over him and his patient. Aemond almost likes him.

The queen tries once to suggest moving you out of the prince’s quarters. She does not try again.

The prince waits.

He will allow no servants to tend to you, no one but the queen and maester. When necessary, he will change the linens on his bed himself while you sleep, the way you had taught him to do with his own royal father. It frightens him, how deep your slumber is.

The prince sleeps as close to you as he dares, curled up like a dog at the foot of his own bed. He crawls in it when you are asleep, unwilling to give you the chance to chase him away, soaking up your lingering warmth, too ashamed to ask for it, too desperate to forgo it entirely. He almost thinks he need not bother.

Because the prince waits and still you will not speak.

Your face has gone from black to green to a sickly yellow. You sit in a prince’s bed. You eat the bread he gives you and drink the stew he spoons into your mouth. Sip the warm tea he brings you while you stare at the sheets and say nothing.

Aemond is too miserably aware of how low he is willing to stoop for your voice to attempt speaking to you himself. He has considered it all. Shaking it out of you, with a shout and a curse. Dragging his brother to this room and killing him for you, for himself. Bringing his sister here. Her children. Taking you in his arms again and taking you to Vhagar, flying across the sea, to anywhere that will make you speak again… smile again…

You are slipping from his hands, as far away as you were during those first few days when he would skulk outside closed doors and steal away snippets of your voice, low and husky, singing foreign nonsense to his niece and nephew.

But he is too tired now to summon the outrage he used to feel, at you owning comfort he could not reach.

So the prince waits… until he can wait no more.

“Please,” he says to you, as you sit and stare. “Please…”

You still say nothing. But you do look at him. You reach for his hand and he lets you have it, for as many hours as you need it, even as it grows numb in your grasp. You hold its warmth to your belly, as if the blood of the dragon could thaw the cold residing in there now.

He looks at your glassy eyes, your white-knuckled hand and his own on your belly and he knows what he must do. He should have done it long ago, the first time he had ever seen the blood on your split lip, the bruises on your pale skin. He should have known better than to let himself be distracted by the beauty they revealed to him. He kisses your forehead before he does, trying not to tremble at the brief taste of your skin. He is a man starving, with hunger’s implacable ruthlessness.

When he returns, he drops your cousin’s severed hand upon your lap. The hand that took a prince’s son from him. Prince Aemond One-Eye himself, a bruise of his own on his face, hair wild, eyepatch and dignity forgotten. What he will never forget again is the sound a man makes when Valyrian steel cuts through his flesh and bone.

You do not understand. For a moment you are so stunned and angry it knocks the numbness right out of your lungs. You look at your prince, watch him fall to his knees, lay his head on your lap, besides your flesh and blood, and almost forget to make sense of the words when they come out of him. Westerosi is only your second tongue after all.

“I would have you sing again,” he says with the hoarse rawness of a man who has just discovered all his cruelty to be bravado. “I would have you laugh again.”

And it is awful, to think Aemond would not know that there is no blood that could buy back your soul. Awful but not surprising, that he should not know pain and sorrow could only beget more of themselves. You had known this of him, the first time you had ever seen a sapphire hiding pain. You try not to think of Angus, still a boy, still as much a boy as Prince Aemond himself. You try not to think of what a hand means to a working man and not to a prince. You try not to think of the bridges he has burnt or the ties he has severed for you forever more, when he severed tendon and marrow.

Because if you start thinking of it, you will find yourself fiercely glad that he did.

You will find within your breast a cry of vicious triumph, that sounds to your mind like a Dothraki screamer. Nothing that could ever bring you comfort. Nothing that could ever pay for the death of your dreams, or your hopes, or your love for a boy who had been your boy until he wasn’t.

Nothing that would help.

But still, Aemond had done it for you. Useless, the mother you had barely known had called it in the far reaches of your memory, when men beat their breasts and swear death to you.

Useless perhaps, but he had done it for you.

He lets out a sob when your hand runs through his hair.

“You have no coin,” you say to him and he near cries in relief at the sound of your voice. “To buy back my joy. There is no joy left for me in the world. I have nothing.”

You’ve taken it all from me, you do not say. With black steel and my kinsman’s blood. No hope now, to go back home.

Good.

You think of getting up and not looking back. You think of sailing the poison water and finding your way back to the land of your father, to endless grass and sun-baked earth. You see life unfurling before you, empty and safe. A man maybe. A strong rider who would give you strong children instead of moontea and grief. Small, boring children that do not eat your insides with fangs and claws and fire.

Aemond burrows his face into your lap and crushes your borrowed shift and sheets in his bloodied hands.

You know you cannot. You have no home left but him.

“You’ve nothing I want, Aemond One-Eye. Nothing to pay me with but one thing.”

You see him whip his head off the bed to look at you, the nightmares and dread written clearly on a face too young and beautiful to bear them, warring now with desperate hope. You take this face into your hands, this face you have cherished and cursed, and hold it close to yours, grip tight enough to keep your hands from shaking.

“You,” you breathe and he reaches back for you, hands flying to your neck and gripping you as close as you grip him, choking back a cry of savage joy. “You are the only thing I will ever want again. The only coin I will take. I have nothing but you, nothing. So you will pay me with your life. Swear to me… swear you’ll live forever.”

Easy promise for a king’s son, you think. Easy to think you would go first, of toil or hunger or sorrow. As long as he lived it would be alright.

“I swear,” he answers as he lets you taste the tears off his lips. “Forever.”

I almost cannot grasp I am done with this. It's been consuming my life for the last couple of months. I've been virtually possessed by the idea and I am just glad I was able to surf the wave until I could finish it. Extra chapter and all. I think I've got a couple more Aemond porn one-shots in me that I've started and will probably try to finish. Some Helaemond X Reader and some Aegond X Reader if anyone wants to hear a little bit more of this verse... or at least the shoddy AU I have to conjure to get the pretty Targaryen people to fuck without killing each other. Thank you so much to everyone who commented and left likes. ...not that I will ever admit to obsessively refreshing AO3 and tumblr for likes but yeah... You guys are the best T_T thank you

[aaron-ring-greenlantern]

OPEN RP

CW: Mild mentions of blood and injuries from fights; swearing

You’re walking through the woods, trying to get out into nature and escape from the noise and gloom of the big city. As you hike the trail, a burst of green light shoots across the sky and crash not too far from where you stand. You break away from the path and trek up a hill to see a small area carved out by the crash landing. You see a Green Lantern lying unconscious on the ground with blood covering him. He notices you are there, but is so out of it he can’t even make a motion of acknowledgement.

— Shit. — he manages to cough out, spitting blood onto the ground.

| Tags: @babsggordon @cassandra-c-wayne @officialbruciewayne @timbits-drake @super-clark @the-littlest-wayne @stillnotawayne @officialgreenlantern @dickgraysonfr @jasonwayne-todd @jason-t0dd @jason-peter-t0dd @bluebirdwonder01 @teatimealfie @blonden-t @robin-wing-man @irl-batsignal @donna-troy-of-themyscira @thecats-eye @casscain-w @ccassandra-cain @imbatman-imtired @terry-mcginnis-wayne @damian-al-ghul-wayne @not-redrobin and anyone else who wants to hop in on the RP! |